Faculty of Economics, Tohoku University
Prof. Yoh Kawana (Ph.D. University of Leicester）
Economic and Urban History Blog
EUH Blog
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Shōnō keiei (peasant farming) Comparative keywords: the advanced organic economy In our graduate seminar, a student introduced a textbook argument about official agricultural policies in 20th-century Japan. As we all know, the traditional peasant economy has been transformed lately, and now, Japanese farmers are about to modernize their traditional small scale, family based farming businesses. Such modernization is the consequence of these agricultural policies, the argument goes. Interestingly, such a line of argument contains an air of nostalgia for small scale farming communities, and tends to ignore urban citizens, who consist of the majority of the country’s population, and whose life-style has already adapted to the global capitalist economy, much earlier than their rural counterparts. One wishes to see, therefore, more discussion on modern Japanese  agriculture from the perspectives of urban consumers rather than rural
producers.2018/June Kinuorimno-gyō (the silk industry) Comparative keywords: the Industrial Revolution A visiting Fellow from the University of Milan gave a wonderful seminar for our postgraduate students last Thursday. We learned how the Italian silk industry in the 19th century was transformed following the importation of a large amount of Japanese silk via a newly established Japanese international port, Yokohama. Since silk production was also the key for the Japanese industrialization, this case interestingly exemplifies the early impact of the modern Japanese economy on the European market. Can we say then the East shaping the West as much as the West shaping the East? 2017/Nov Sento (moving the capital city) Comparative keywords: London, the fiscal-military state It is well known that Japan suddenly moved the capital city from Kyoto to Edo, from which the Tokugawa ruled the country at the start of the 17th century. Around that time, England and France were also solidifying their domestic rule, but without shifting their capital cities. Did this subtle difference reflect the stability or otherwise of their urban hierarchy, and by implication, the maturity or immaturity of domestic commerce despite the whims of government? 2016/Dec. Kenchi（cadastral survey) Comparative keywords: political arithmetic The introduction of kenchi, literally meaning ‘land survey’, prior to Edo period produced an early example of macro-economic data which allowed officials to measure accurately the productivity of agriculture across the country. Was the spirit of such a policy political rather than scientific? 2016/Oct. On the way from Sendai airport to our university, a distinguished economic historian from Australia asked me “Why are there so many English words displayed on the signboards of commercial premises?” The question took me by surprise, since modifying ideas from the West for local use occurs so naturally here that we normally do not take notice of it. For people in Japan, English characters can be fashionable and ‘modern’; they are not always meant to be used for literal communication. Historically, cultural borrowing is a universal phenomenon, often with important economic implications. We know that the Columbian Exchange transformed early modern European society. The material culture of eighteenth century Britain was enriched by modified versions of numerous exotic goods from Asia. Was cultural borrowing always led by some form of material exchange in the past? Why were some countries more prone to borrow than others? Being replete with pertinent examples, Japanese history may offer some good ideas. 2014/Dec. For those who are familiar with the British industrial past, the rise of new industrial cities, such as Birmingham and Manchester, is a familiar historical drama. In the case of Meiji Japan, by contrast, there were few signs of new manufacturing centres challenging the economic clout of the major cities, such as Edo (Tokyo) and Osaka. Contextual differences are evident, of course. In Japan, the establishment of modern factories was mainly initiated by the Government rather than private entrepreneurs, and the location of natural resources, coal in particular, was not so much the determinant of creating new industrial regions. Are there any other locally specific conditions worth considering, such as culture? The inquiry invites much historical imagination which may affect ideas for revitalizing the local economy in the present. It also reminds us that what constitutes the economy are pretty much context-dependent phenomena which are so hard to generalize. 2014/June |