Vol. 80, No. 3

Shigehiko IOKU and Masato SHIZUME, Finance for everyday people in modern Japan: the case of a pawnbroker in Shiba ward in Tokyo

In the field of modern Japanese financial history there are few publications on the organs of finance for everyday people, such as pawnbrokers, although there are many works on the activities of the Bank of Japan, city banks, and regional banks. Previous studies on pawnbrokers focus mainly on those located in the countryside or downtown (shitamachi) Tokyo. Most of the authors argue that the pawnbrokers charged exorbitantly high interest rates to poor people who were in straitened circumstances. To explore the reality of pawnbrokers’ activities, we conducted a statistical analysis of pawnbrokers in the city of Tokyo, and a case study of a pawnbroker (Shop “T”) in Shiba ward in the under-explored, near-central part of Tokyo. In our study, we used the pawn books and customers lists of 1915, 1925 and 1935. Our analysis reveals that the pawning reflected local people’s lifestyle, and its change over time as their ways of living became more Westernized and they had more leisure time. Contrary to what previous works have argued, we find that pawnbrokers played an indispensable role in the daily lives of ordinary consumers by providing them with ready liquidity in small amounts in the short term by using real material objects for security.

Shinya SUGIYAMA, A statistical analysis of pawnbroking in prewar Tokyo

This statistical survey of the Tokyo pawnbroking business for the period from 1906 to 1938 is based on the statistical yearbooks of the Tokyo municipal government and various reports on pawnbroking. After a decline around the time of the Meiji Restoration (1868), the number of pawnshops increased to a peak of 1,334 in 1918, but shrank to 408 after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Pawnshops were financial organizations with close relationship to their neighborhoods, providing short-term small loans to ordinary people in return for mortgages on items of movable property. They were managed as individual or family-based businesses, with levels of working capital as low as about twenty to thirty thousand yen. Their main business involved appraising the value of items offered as security and obtaining interest on loans. Pawnshops flourished until 1922, but the earthquake represented a severe blow to their activities. Recovery was interrupted by the depression of the early 1930s. The volume of business declined, and the value of pawned items decreased. The annual rate of turnover of working capital decreased, leading to falling profit rates and a severe downturn in the business of pawnbroking.

Satomi KAJIYA, A case study of pawnbroking in prewar Tokyo: occupational and residential composition of customers

This paper examines commoner’s finance in urban areas, especially Tokyo, during the prewar period, through an analysis of a pawnbroker (Shop “T”), located in Shiba ward adjacent to Keio University. The paper considers the trends in use, the residence of the customers, and the occupational hierarchy of customers, based on an analysis of the directory and the pawn record ledger.

First, we can note seasonal trends, with an increase in pawned items in May and June and at the end of the year. Second, most of the customers were residents of Shiba ward. This confirms our assumption that Shop “T” was a shop with deep roots in the local community. But it should be noted also that the proportion of other district residents gradually increased. In the prewar period, Shiba ward was an industrial district, and the occupational status of customers shows many workers, but in terms of the value of loans, they only comprise 10 percent of the total. On the other hand, although the number of student customers was smaller, the value of their transactions was more than 30 percent. This was a reflection of the shop’s location adjacent to Keio University.

Maki SHIGETA and Masanobu MISHINA, A case study of pawnbroking in prewar Tokyo: customer's pawning activities

This paper, also using the records of Shop “T”, examines commoner’s finance through an analysis of the actual situation of finance through the pawnshop, the changes in pawned items, and variations by social class and profession in 1915, 1925, and 1935. This shop was larger than the average Shiba ward pawnbroker in terms of both the number of transactions and the total value of loans. Clothes were the most commonly pawned items, especially traditional Japanese clothes, although some of the white-collar class also pawned Western clothes. Other frequently pawned items included watches, metal articles and accessories. Because Shop “T” was next to Keio University, many college students pawned books, especially textbooks. The customers of the pawnshop were not restricted to poor people. We also show that Shop “T” flexibly responded to foreclosure limits, extending them for users. We also analyzed the records of disposition of foreclosed items. The change of this situation did not influence business activities of Shop “T”. We find that pawnbrokers played an indispensable role in the daily lives of ordinary consumers in the city.

Shuhei KODAMA, The role of the Toyo Chisso Corporation in the ammonium sulfate industry during the interwar years

The purpose of this article is to examine the activities of the Toyo Chisso Corporation, a firm that was created by several companies to produce ammonium sulfate using the Haber-Bosch process, which the Japanese government had claimed as an enemy asset in 1917. Although this firm continued to exist until 1947, it never produced ammonium sulfate. What then did the firm do?

In briefest terms, the firm was a cartel of Japanese chemical companies with two major roles. One of the roles was to control the quantity of German ammonium sulfate. Toyo Chisso ran a dealership for German ammonium sulfate so this cartel was able to control the flow of German ammonium sulfate into the Japanese market. A second role was monopolistic control over manufacturing technology. This cartel held the patent right to the Haber-Bosch process in Japan, and collected royalties from imported ammonium sulfate from Germany. Moreover, the cartel accumulated royalties (internal reserves), which were used to make direct investment in outsiders. Therefore, the coordination system was constructed between the member companies of Toyo Chisso and outsiders.

Hiroshi HASEGAWA, On the plans to organize Satsushu Shosha as a company in 1866-1867, using materials from Tatewaki Komatsu and Kakutaro Ishikawa

This paper examines the circumstances surrounding the introduction of the company system (shosha toritate) and its special characteristics through a study of the Satsushu Shosha. Tomoatsu Godai and Munenori Terashima, prominent promoters of the company system, were involved in the movement to overthrow the bakufu and had received the support of Tatewaki Komatsu, the chief retainer (karo) of the Satsuma han. Kakutaro Ishikawa, who had been involved in constructing a spinning factory in Yamato district, tried to set up the Satsushu Sanbutsu Kaisho, to revive Yamato Koeki, and to introduce the company system. Responding to changes in the political situation, Ishikawa shifted the focus of his activities from Yamato to Senshu Sakai district. In June 1867, the Satsushu Shosha was described as having the following characteristics: (1) anticipating the establishment of foreign trade, the existing organization (the Satsushu Sanbutsu Kaisho) was to be reorganized; (2) the company would include the Sakai Bosekisho spinning mill which was to be built on the same grounds.