INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text ~:rectly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type ofcomputer printer. The quality ofthis reproduction is dependent upon the quality ofthe copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back ofthe book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howelllnfonnation Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313n61-4700 800/521-0600 COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONTRACT LABOR IN CENTRAL JAPAN, 1672-1873 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY MAY 1996 by Mary Louise Nagata Dissertation Committee: Paul Varley, Chairperson Sharon Minichiello Henry Lam1ey Karen Jolly Patricia Steinhoff UMI Number: 9629843 UMI Microform 9629843 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 III © Copyright 1996 by Mary Louise Nagata IV Acknowled2ements In this dissertation I have used data from a wide variety of sources and gained advice, introductions, and other support from may people. I cannot hope to acknowledge all of the people who assisted me in this work, but I would like to acknowledge a few of those people and institutions that provided the most direct assistance. Special thanks to professor Paul Varley for his endless patience as I worked through the data and changed the shape of this dissertation numerous times. I also thank my other committee members for their advice and comments. Several Japanese scholars met with me and gave me advice, access to source material and necessary introductions. Special thanks to professor Hayami Akira for introductions, access to libraries, copies of his papers, and valuable advice. I also thank professor Yasuoka Shigeaki for copies of his numerous research papers on merchant houses and his contract data which 1 expect to use in the future. I thank professor Hasegawa Akira who kindly introduced me to Maruo Mitsue so I could view her collection of documents. The years I spent at Kyoto University learning to decipher historical documents under professors Asao Naohiro and Oyama Kyohei were valuable preparation for this research and I further thank professor Asao for access to the Sugiyama collection in Kyoto University Museum. I have many thanks for Maruo Mitsue who welcomed me into her home and allowed me to view, decipher, and tr:lllscribe documents from her family collection. Ishikawa Michiko catalogued the Konishi collection for Itami Shiritsu Hakubutsukan (Itami Municipal Museum). I thank her for kindly providing access to the collection and assisting me in deciphering the documents. 1take v full responsibility for any mistakes in deciphering and translation of this collection and all ofthe documents I have used for this research. Nagaya Yoshimasa of the Imadatecho Rekishi Minzoku Shiryokan (Imadatecho Historical and Folk Archives) provided access to both the microfilm and original documents of the I\1itamura collection stored at his institution. Scholars, archivists and librarians at Gifu Kenritsu Rekishi Shiryokan (Gifu Prefecture Historical Archives), Mie Kenshi Hensansho (Office for the compiling the history of Mie Prefecture), Matsuzaka Shiritsu Toshokan (Matsuzaka city Library), Tondabayashi Shiritsu Toshokan (Tondabayashi city Library), Tatsuno Shiritsu Toshokan (Tatsuno city Library), Kyoto Shiritsu Rekishi Shiryokan (Kyoto City Library of Historical Documents), Kyoto Furitsu Shiryokan (Kyoto Prefecture Archives) all provided guidance and access to both original and secondary sources. Many thanks to all of the above people. Finally, I must acknowledge many thanks to my husband and children for their support in many forms and patience. VI Abstract Commercial and industrial contract labor in central Japan, 1672­ 1873. Nagata, Mary Louise, Ph.D. The University ofHawaii, 1996. 196pp. Chair: Paul Varley I examine commercial and industrial labor during the Tokugawa period of Japan and focus particularly upon contract labor and labor c·Jntracts. I . begin with a discussion of the theories of feudalism, capitalism, and industrialization, and the organizations oflabor associated with various stages of economic development. Then I discuss how these theories have been applied to Tokugawa Japan. I show that the Tokugawa social and economic structure was neither feudal, nor entirely "protoindustrial." In the second chapter I use original and secondary sources to describe the "Tokugawa economic continuum." I find that various business and industrial fonns developed simultaneously rather than in progressive stages. I find that different industries and businesses took different fonns according to several factors: the nature of the product, time requirements of the production process, skill requirements, and available labor supply. I also find that the stem-family acted as the universal framework for businesses of all sizes and fonns. In chapter three I examine and analyse the contract text: the similarities across businesses, industries and regions, and the differences between the same. Then I use the contracts in the data sample to analyse hiring patterns and guarantor practices. I find that, although there were differences between rural and urban businesses, the overall pattern was consistent with labor shortage and great social and geographical mobility. Finally, I discuss casual Vll labor and the competition for labor between industries, provinces, and regions. In chapter four I contrast the labor policies found in the contracts with the labor practices found in numerous miscellaneous documents including letters ofapology, debt, request and thanks. I also discuss the relation between paternalistic labor practices and the population stagnation found in much of central Japan during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I describe how labor shortage influenced labor practices. In the concluding chapter, I review my findings ofthe previous chapters and discuss how Tokugawa labor practices have continued to influence the present. I suggest that the economic continuum of the Tokugawa period has shifted and expanded, but remains part ofJapanese society today. V111 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements IV Abstract VI List Of Tables X List Of Figures XI Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Capitalism, Protoindustry, and Labor 3 Labor Organization in Business and Industry 12 Labor, Labor Contracts, and Society 17 Data and Methodology 20 Chapter 2: The Organization of Labor and Industry 29 Merchant House Organization 30 Labor Organization in Industry 41 Textiles 41 Paper 46 Safflower 52 Brewing 55 Summary and Conclusion 60 Chapter 3: Contracts, Labor, and Mobility 64 The Legal-Historical Background of Contract Labor 65 Contracts and Contract Labor 65 The Contract Guarantee 67 Guarantors and Other Witnesses 74 Workers, Guarantors, and Migration Patterns 80 Worker-Guarantor-Employer Relations 89 Social Mobility 97 IX Labor Migration and Tokugawa Society 102 Chapter 4: Labor-Management Relations 108 Contract Conditions 109 Labor and Population 120 Labor-Management Relations 125 Human Capital and Competition 143 Chapter V: Conclusions 147 Labor in Tokugawa Society 148 Theory and Interpretation 162 Appendix A: Data Sources 167 Appendix B: Sample Document Translations 170 Glossary 179 Sources Consulterl 182 Primary Sources 182 Unpublished 182 Primary Sources Published 183 Secondary Sources 184 Japanese Sources 184 English Sources 189 Reference Materials 195 Other Sources 196 x List Of Tables Table Page 1.1 Distribution of the Contracts by Decade. 23 2.1 Comparison of Age and Sex 35 2.2 Age-at-Hire for Kyoto and Rural-based Businesses 36 2.3 Age and Contract Period 38 2.4 Tondabayashi Migrant Workers in 1672 by Age-at-Hire. 39 2.5 Gender and Contract Period 45 2.6 Mitamura House Gender and Contract Period 51 2.7 Matsuya Gender and Contract Period 53 3.1 Worker Origins for Kyoto and Rural-based Businesses 81 3.2 Cumulative Guarantor Locality for All Contracts. 91 3.3 Cumulative Guarantor Locality for Rural Contracts with Multiple Guarantors 95 3.4 Witnessing Marks for Relatives and Workers on Kyoto Contracts 99 3.5 Witnessing Marks for Relatives and Workers on Rural Contracts 100 4.1 Wages at Rural-based Businesses 113 4.2 Contract Wages for Kyoto Workers 115 Xl List Of Figures Figure Page 1. Map ofCentral Japan and Data Sources 25 2. Witnessing