Technology and Change in Japan's Modern Copper Mining Industry
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2 Technology and change in Japan’s modern copper mining industry Patricia Sippel Introduction Japan’s mining industry does not receive a lot of attention from economic and social historians these days. True, mining has a secure place among the negatives of modern Japanese history. Labor conditions in Japanese mines, particularly the coal mines of Hashima and Miike in Kyushu, were notorious for their squalor in the opening decades of the twentieth century. The need to secure mine labor was a major reason for the forced relocation of hundreds of thousands of workers from colonial Korea and occupied China to Japan through to the end of the Second World War.1 Environmental damage, too, was egregious. As early as the 1880s, minerals washed out from the Ashio Copper Mine in Tochigi prefecture contaminated the nearby Watarase River, killing fish, sickening those who ate the fish, and ruining crops that came in contact with river water.2 Caught up in the demands of rapid modernization, the Meiji government was not immediately willing to restrict mine activities. It took a decade of petitions, protests, and national publicity before a minimal settlement was reached regarding compensation and pollution control. The Ashio incident was Japan’s first recorded major case of industrial water pollution in the modern era, the first in a series that continued well into the post-Second World War decades. While labor abuse and industrial pollution form an important part of modern Japan’s record on human rights and environmental policy, they also point to the crucial importance of mining in the economic history of modern Japan. From the opening years of the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japanese mines experienced a surge in productivity that lasted well into the second decade of the twentieth century. Between 1874 and 1908, output of copper, silver, gold, and coal increased by some 20, 45, 54, and 72 times respectively (see Table 2.1).3 Not only did the mining industry offer material resources for domestic use but, led by copper and coal, it played a vital role in securing export income in a period of heavy import depen- dence. Copper accounted for 4 percent of total exports in 1871–75, rising to 5 percent in 1886–90 (see Table 2.2). It was Japan’s sixth most valuable export item in 1898, rising to third in 1908, and fifth in 1913.4 Coal accounted for 3 percent of total exports in 1871–75, rising to 6 percent in 1886–90. It was ranked third in export value in 1898, fourth in 1908, and sixth in 1913. Summarizing their findings, Yamamoto Yuzo and Oku Kazuyoshi note that as top earners until the First World War Changes in Japan’s copper mining industry 11 Table 2.1 Mineral output in Japan, 1874–1908 Year Gold Silver Copper Coal (in troy oz) (in troy oz) (in long tons) (in long tons) 1874 3,129 87,890 2,078.5 204,864 1875 5,598 224,842 2,363.1 558,288 1876 7,147 280,892 3,135.3 537,011 1877 11,264 355,126 3,884.2 491,835 1878 3,764 318,017 4,194.1 669,866 1879 3,402 202,172 4,562.4 815,057 1880 9,925 332,406 4,600.8 865,201 1881 9,792 574,270 4,701.4 911,720 1882 8,736 558,783 5,533.4 915,676 1883 9,669 775,840 6,674.8 987,818 1884 8,630 736,321 8,758.3 1,123,330 1885 8,811 766,360 10,396.4 1,274,775 1886 14,937 1,083,057 9,630.9 1,354,190 1887 16,739 1,024,608 10,901.1 1,720,909 1888 20,230 1,374,113 13,179.3 1,893,970 1889 24,709 1,381,497 16,015.5 2,353,849 1890 23,362 1,699,029 17,849.5 2,580,997 1891 23,217 1,886,324 18,754.6 3,120,581 1892 22,523 1,936,753 20,423.5 3,129,409 1893 23,676 2,226,825 17,750.8 3,274,244 1894 25,260 2,328,131 19,622.5 4,214,253 1895 40,808 2,323,673 18,834.4 4,718,914 1896 30,928 2,068,864 19,784.8 4,946,568 1897 33,617 1,745,657 20,091.5 5,131,628 1898 39,303 1,943,362 20,715.9 6,640,469 1899 58,654 1,805,879 23,920.6 6,653,476 1900 80,596 1,890,716 24,938.9 7,362,801 1901 101,683 1,760,158 26,990.0 8,879,511 1902 143,993 1,852,067 29,144.0 9,656,295 1903 139,623 1,884,162 32,111.0 10,021,893 1904 132,814 1,977,756 31,653.0 10,619,026 1905 148,645 2,678,511 34,975.0 11,467,845 1906 132,936 2,543,774 37,950.0 12,892,721 1907 134,153 3,091,022 39,556.0 13,736,182 1908 168,883 3,993,061 41,113.0 14,761,476 Source: Bureau of Mines, Mining in Japan Past and Present (Tokyo: Bureau of Mines, 1909), p. 54. copper and coal improved the balance of international trade, while at the same time making possible the purchases of items necessary to promote industrial growth.5 That mining could impact so powerfully on economic growth and on the physical environment reflects in part its own rapid transformation through the application of advanced technology. As Japan entered the modern era, the remark- able expansion of mining that had begun in the mid-sixteenth century had faded, in part as a result of technological barriers.6 Even in the areas of dressing and smelting, where Japanese methods were relatively sophisticated, innovation was hampered by a political system that restricted information transfer within Japan 12 Patricia Sippel Table 2.2 Exports of copper and coal, 1868–95 (in 1000s of yen and % of total exports) Year Copper Coal 1868–70 119 (1) 188 (1) 1871–75 740 (4) 571 (3) 1876–80 615 (2) 852 (3) 1881–85 1,093 (3) 1,485 (4) 1886–90 3,218 (5) 3,375 (6) 1891–95 4,906 (5) 5,665 (6) Source: Sugiyama, Shinya, “Kokusai Kankyo to Gaikoku Boeki,” in Umemura and Yamamoto (eds), Kaikoku to Ishin, pp. 196–97. and access to new technologies developed abroad. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, the situation had changed dramatically. Supported by the pro-industrial policies of the Meiji government, mining was transformed by new technologies, many of them adopted from the West. Modern pumps, lighting, and ventilation systems, blasting equipment, and transportation devices allowed eas- ier access to ores; new metallurgical processes significantly raised the level of extraction. Rapid, thoroughgoing technological change on Western lines thus powered the explosive development of mining in the first half-century of Japan’s modern era. If the fact of technological transformation in mining is uncontroversial, attempts to explain and characterize are part of a broader debate on the origins and uses of technological development in modern and contemporary Japan. Tessa Morris- Suzuki notes that explanations of Japan’s technological dynamism commonly point to a range of factors, including cultural and institutional conditions, high educational standards, technical skill and adaptability, the strength of business organizations, and the power of the state.7 Morris-Suzuki organizes her own analy- sis of Japanese technology around three main themes. First, in analyzing the rela- tionship between imitation and innovation, she argues that even the importation of foreign technology was rarely a simple matter of copying and more often a matter of creative adaptation that fostered Japanese research capacity. Second, while rec- ognizing the roles of government and big businesses at the political and economic center, she notes also the importance of small firms and local communities on the “periphery.” Finally, she highlights the social context of innovation, in other words, the networks that linked research and production centers in Japanese society. This chapter attempts to identify some characteristics of the uses of technology in modern Japan by examining the development of a modern copper mining industry. Relying especially on a series of official reports issued for international readers, it draws examples from present-day Akita prefecture in the Tohoku region, where the mines of Osarizawa and Ani dominated copper production from the early modern era and where Kosaka grew from the 1860s to become, as a 1909 Bureau of Mines report declared, “the largest mine in the Far East.” At least two phases Changes in Japan’s copper mining industry 13 can be identified. During the first phase, from the 1850s through to about 1885, the transformation of mining was powered by the direct importation of Western technology, particularly into government-owned mines. In the second phase, from the 1890s through to about 1915, a rising generation of private mine owners combined aggressive management techniques with persistent technological innovation to achieve continuously expanding production. What does the history of copper mining suggest about technological change in modern Japan? This chapter makes three points, of which the first two relate to themes addressed by Morris-Suzuki. Concerning the issue of imitation and inno- vation, it argues that, although Western technology transformed mining in the second half of the nineteenth century, knowledge and practices developed in Japan before and during the modern era were also critically important.