The Development of Domestically Produced Synthetic Fiber Vinylon and Its Substitution of Natural Fibers: the Case of Kurashiki Rayon
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85 Japanese Research in Business History 2013 │ 30 The Development of Domestically Produced Synthetic Fiber Vinylon and its Substitution of Natural Fibers: The Case of Kurashiki Rayon Kyōhei Hirano Kobe University Introduction n arTicle in the May 31, 1955 edition of the New York Times introduced a synthetic fiber developed and manufactured in a Japan, saying: A new miracle fiber, vinylon, developed by the Japanese, is also to be featured. It is said to absorb moisture and may eventually replace imported cotton as Japan’s staple cloth. This article focuses on the case of Kurashiki Rayon Company (Kuraray)1, a major player of Japanese textile industry, to discuss the processes of industrialization and marketing, by which this miracle fiber, which was expected to become a universal fiber to replace cotton and wool, was developed for mass production in Japan and subsequently 1. Throughout the period covered by this article, Kurashiki Rayon Co., Ltd. [Kurashiki Reiyon Kabushiki Kaisha] experienced several name changes. During the prewar years, the company was known as Kurashiki Silk Weaving Company [Kurashiki Kenshoku Kabushiki Kaisha]. It later became Kurashiki Rayon Company [Kurashiki Reiyon Kabushiki Kaisha], and is currently known as Kuraray Co., Ltd. [Kabushiki Kaisha Kurare]. To maintain consistency and to avoid confusion, this article will use its present English name Kuraray throughout, with proper full name of the company noted in the footnote for reference. 86 JAPANESE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS HISTORY 2013 │ 30 established its market in a different role from the initial expectations.2 That is, the paper will give a clear picture how the fiber, which was developed during World War II as a replacement, found new value in a different role in the postwar period, and show the prerequisite of the rapid development of the synthetic fiber industry. The important point is the framework and its change, which originally aimed to utilize synthetic fibers to substitute natural ones under the severe resource limitations. Since the beginning of industrialization in the late 19th centuries, Japan had overcome limitations on access to resources such as industrial raw materials through international trade. However, during the 1930s the international political climate and trade conditions worsened and made acquisition of raw materials by international trade increasingly difficult. During the years leading up to and through World War II, the Japanese economy became increasingly autarkic, and in response, attempts were made to acquire resources through military advancement into the continental China and Southeast Asia and to use science to develop replacement products. Major examples of these replacement products included synthetic petroleum, synthetic rubber, synthetic resin, and synthetic fiber. Although some of these replacement products that were developed under wartime conditions were abandoned in the postwar years, but synthetic rubber, resin, and fiber became materials that supported the development of mass consumption society and made significant advancement in the postwar era. The idea of replacing wool and cotton, which depended heavily on imports, by chemical fibers, became prominent during the 1930s with the increase in trade frictions and the formation of isolated economic blocs. This idea reached its height during World War II with the increasing autarky of the Japanese economy. During the wartime years, although the development of synthetic fibers received the most effort, other methods such as experimentation with making fibers from proteins derived from soybeans and fishmeal took place. The Japanese made every effort to develop sources of fiber, which was in severe shortage. This idea continued in the immediate postwar period when limitations on international trade 2. The history of Kuraray is detailed in Kabushiki Kaisha Kurare Shashi Hensan- bu (ed.), Kurare 60-nenshi [60 year history of Kuraray] (Unfinished manuscript) (Osaka: Kabushiki Kaisha Kurare, 1987). Unless otherwise noted, details of Kuraray’s case are taken from this work. Hirano: The Development of Domestically Produced Synthetic Fiber Vinylon... 87 remained in place, but as trade recovered, the idea faded away. However, the production volume of synthetic fiber increased from the initial production in 1950 of 450 tons to 28,781 tons in 1956, only second to the United States. The growth of synthetic fiber took place not only in Japan but worldwide, and as a result, the era of “King Cotton” came to an end. On the one hand, this result developed out of the initial goal of replacing natural fibers with synthetics. On the other hand, there was a qualitative change in the use and purpose of synthetic fibers from passive substitution, using synthetic fibers to replace natural fibers to overcome wartime shortages, to active substitution in the postwar years of natural fibers by synthetic fibers because of the new characteristics, function, and attractiveness of synthetic fibers that differentiated them significantly from natural fibers. Thus the quality of the synthetic fibers and the demand for new products with novel characteristics eventually supplanted the demand for natural fibers. The history of synthetic fiber industry in Japan has been studied previously from different viewpoints such as industrial history and business history. From the perspective of industrial history, the replacement of natural fibers by synthetic fibers has been widely accepted as a characteristic of the autarkic wartime economy.3 More specifically, history of chemistry studies have examined the research and development of synthetic fibers at universities and companies from the wartime years to mass production by placing it in the context of the birth of macromolecular chemistry and the general history of chemistry.4 These studies focus on the creation of synthetic fibers as a result of societal demand, and reflect the passive substitution approach. On the other hand, business history and history of daily life examine the reaction of firms and consumers to the new technology and material, synthetic fiber, in the context of marketing strategies in the postwar years and the increasing acceptance of western 3. Uchida Hoshimi, Gendai no sangyō: Gōsei sen’i kōgyō [Modern industry: Synthetic fiber industry], Shintei-ban [New edition] (Tokyo: Tōyō Keizai Shinpōsha, 1970) is a major work from this perspective. With respect to industries in other countries, Jonas Scherner, “The beginnings of Nazi autarky policy: The ‘National pulp programme’ and the origin of regional staple fibre plants,” Economic History Review, Vol.64, Issue 4, November 2008, is a study of chemical fiber industry in wartime Germany. 4. Furukawa Yasu, “Sen’i kagaku kara kōbunshi kagaku e: Sakurada Ichirō to Kyoto gakuha no tenkai [From fiber chemistry to polymer chemistry: Sakurada Ichirō and the development of the Kyoto school],” Kagakushi kenkyū 39, no.1 (2012). 88 JAPANESE RESEARCH IN BUSINESS HISTORY 2013 │ 30 style dress.5 These studies highlight the process by which synthetic fiber gained economic value in the market, and reflect the “active substitution” approach. All of these studies are empirically based within each approach, but none adequately examine the transition from passive substitution to active substitution. This article argues that the two phases of development and industrialization under severe resource limitations during the wartime and the immediate postwar years, and the development of new markets as the resource limitations eased need to be considered as a single continuous process. This transformation in the nature of natural fiber substitution is an important point in how synthetic fibers found value in the postwar society even though the development began as a replacement commodity during the wartime years. This is also a pivotal point in the history of chemical fibers, especially the early development of synthetic fibers. I. Wartime Development of Synthetic fibers at Kuraray During the wartime controlled economy since the onset of the war in China, the government implemented increasingly restrictive limitations on all aspects of production in peacetime industries such as textiles. However, rayon staple fiber received protection and encouragement in an effort to secure adequate textile raw materials. Rayon staple fiber was used extensively in clothing but even this industry eventually declined due to lack of raw materials and labor. In 1938, as the business conditions in the textile industry began to deteriorate, E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company in the United States made public information about nylon. This development provided significant shock to those in the textile industry in Japan, and prompted some universities and textile companies to establish research and development programs in synthetic fibers. Three significant accomplishments from this early effort should be noted. The first was the research and development of fibers made from 5. Hirano Kyōhei, “Sengo no nihon kigyō no gijutsu sentaku to gijutsu hatten: Tōyō Bōseki no gōsei sen’i e no shinshutsu wo chūshin toshite [The technological choice and development of Japanese firms during postwar period: A case of the advance to synthetic fiber of Toyobo],” Keieishigaku 42, no.3 (2007); Koizumi Kazuko (ed.), Yōsai no jidai: Nihonjin no ifuku kakumei [The age of western sewing: The Japanese people’s clothing revolution] (Tokyo: Shadan Hōjin Nōsan Gyoson Bunka Kyōkai, 2004). Hirano: The Development of Domestically Produced Synthetic Fiber Vinylon..