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Socio-Economic History

Vol. 77, No. 3

Yohei KOJIMA
Japanese rotating savings and credit associations and the farmer’s debt consolidation project in the 1930’s: a case study of Zakoji village, Shimoina district, Nagano prefecture


Mujinko were one of the types of Japanese rotating savings and credit associations. In Zakoji, a village in the Shimoina district, Nagano prefecture, mujinko were important financial institutions, serving people who had limited connections with the modern financial market. Almost all of the village’s mujinko ceased operation during the Great Depression. One of the objectives of the farmer’s debt consolidation cooperative act (FDCCA) was to sweep away the mujinko, which were regarded as inefficient parts of the financial system. This article analyzes the process of consolidation of the mujinko.

Contemporary documents show that the relationships between mujinko members were based not only on neighborhood but also on other human networks. The diversity of relationships made it possible for the mujinko to adequately supply funds to the poor. However, during the depression this diversity made it more difficult to consolidate the mujinko. Following the stipulations of the FDCCA, mujinko membership was reorganized based on neighborhood. As the economy improved in the latter half of the 1930s, savings were shifted to more formal financial institutions like the industrial cooperatives. We can say that one of the meanings of the consolidation process was the shift from an organization based on such “ko” to one based on the village.

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Katsutoshi HASHIGUCH
The Japanese cotton industry during the 1920 panic: a case study of the cotton-yarn trade in the Chukyo area


This paper examines the impact of the 1920 panic on the Japanese cotton industry and the subsequent reorganization of the Japanese cotton industry, through an analysis of the activities of the Hattori Shoten, a cotton-yarn and fabrics dealer.

The 1920 panic had a strong impact on cotton yarn futures trade which had increased during the World War I boom. This led to the bankruptcy of many cotton-yarn merchants, while at the same time the large cotton-spinning companies were able to strengthen their position. When the cotton industry negotiated cancellation of sales contracts (known as tokeai), Hattori Shoten negotiated with the Toyo Spinning Company on the cancellation payment (neaikin), and obtained advantageous terms thanks to financial support from the Meiji and Sumitomo Banks. As a result, Hattori Shoten was able to survive.

The large cotton-spinning companies took the initiative in the dispute over the curtailment of production in the 1920s, but the curtailment was not implemented because they were unable to reach agreement. Under such circumstances, Hattori Shoten continued to oppose the curtailment of production, as a medium-sized cotton-spinning company but also as a cotton-textile merchant.

In conclusion, the 1920 panic diminished the influence of the cotton-yarn merchants and gave the cotton-spinning companies the opportunity to take the initiative in reorganizing the market.

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Eiko YUYAMA
The activities of Japanese merchants in French Indochina and the development of lacquer export to Japan between the 1910's and the beginning of the 1940's

This article examines the activities of Japanese merchants in French Indochina and the development of lacquer export to Japan between the 1910's and the beginning of the 1940's. The study focuses on the lacquer markets and distribution channels in East Asia (French Indochina, China, and Taiwan) during the same period. A focus on that period provides a much needed foundation for research on the expansion of Japan in that region beginning in the 1940's, which has long been a main theme of research in this field.

This study has found that beginning in the 1910's Japanese merchants started preliminary research along with sales and marketing activities for the lacquer trade and trade in general with Japan. In the 1920's the operations became full-fledged. Then in the 1930's, they established their position as the base for supplying lacquer materials in French Indochina. The following four factors were found to provide the background for this development: firstly, the increased use of lacquer for industrial paints in Japan resulted in further demand for lacquer materials from overseas; secondly, Japanese merchants monopolized the distribution channels; thirdly, there was a change in the distribution structure in China caused by the deterioration of Japan-China relations; and fourthly, the production of domestic lacquer was promoted in Taiwan.

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Masataka SETOBAYASHI
Establishing a market for electric power in early 20th century China

In modern China as trade developed in the treaty ports markets were simultaneously created for new products. These markets introduced both new products and new forms of business practice. This study focuses on such markets for new goods taking up the case of the market for supply of electric power to factories. From the early teens the Shanghai Municipal Council Electricity Department began to supply electricity to mills, and mill owners quickly switched to electric power, creating a rapid expansion of market demand. A number of factors contributed to the development of this market. First, the introduction of a new tender system allowed the Electricity Department to more effectively control the supply of coal. The second important development was the creation of a model contract that could be used in the electricity trade. Through this model contract buyers and sellers shared information on electricity supply and demand. In the process of refining contractual agreements, they created common understandings of practices to be used in the trade, and this contributed to the advance of the use of electric power in factories. In other words, the regulation of trade in coal and electric power created a well-functioning market and supported the advance of industrialization in Shanghai.

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Pierre-Yves DONZE
The mass production of high-precision watches in the Japanese wristwatch industry: the example of Hattori & Co. (1900-1960)

This paper focuses on the development of the mass production of high-precision watches in Japan during the 1950s through a case study of Hattori & Co. Beginning from the interwar years the paper explores the conditions which made this production system possible. The production of watches by Hattori & Co. grew steadily from the 1920s onwards. However most of the watches were copies of Swiss watches, and their production relied heavily on imports of core parts and machine tools, especially from Switzerland. After the war, Hattori & Co. engaged some university engineering graduates who had experience in war production with the aim of implementing the mass production of high-quality watches based on the interchangeability of parts. Together with other watch companies, Hattori & Co. benefited from the collaborative R&D activities carried out with universities and government bodies. They were thus able to produce in Japan the core parts and machine tools needed to adopt the mass-production system based on the interchangeable parts. Hattori & Co. was freed from its dependency on foreign technologies. In 1956, it developed a wristwatch (the Marvel model) for mass production that was as accurate as Swiss watches and this boosted the international competitiveness of the company until the so-called quartz revolution in the 1970s.

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Kazuo KOBAYASHI
The British Atlantic slave trade and Indian cotton textiles: the case of Thomas Lumley & Co.

This article addresses the role of Indian cotton textiles as one factor in the rapid growth of the British Atlantic slave trade in the century before the abolition of slavery. The Anglo-African trade statistics, compiled by Marion Johnson, opened our eyes to the importance of the re-export of East Indian textiles in the slave trade. Using the records of the London merchant Thomas Lumley, I have illuminated with great precision the commercial networks which stretched from India via Britain to Africa, to map the trade routes of Indian cottons, to examine the Asian dimension of the British Atlantic slave trade, and to show the regional differences in the consumption of Indian textiles in pre-colonial West Africa.

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