THE PROCESS OF TECHNICAL CHANGE IN AGRICULTURE: THE CASE OF THE SAGA PLAIN AREA OF JAPAN, 1868 - 1939 by PENELOPE GILLIAN FRANCKS Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF LONDON ProQuest Number: 10672731 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672731 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 -2- ABSTRACT This thesis analyses the micro-economic process of technical change in one particularly successful agricultural area of Japan, the Saga Plain, between 1868 and 1939. It does so within a framework which relates the characteristics of the new techniques selected to the prevailing technical, economic and social environment, through the institutional mechanisms for the development of new technology. These characteristics themselves then influence the diffusion of new techniques and their effects. The Saga Plain differs from much of the rest of Japan in its natural environment. Hence the technology employed in paddy rice cultivation at the beginning of the period also differed, especially in methods of irrigation. Economic and social relation­ ships between households centered on arrangements to meet the heavy labour and capital requirements of the irrigation technology and to ensure the subsistence of cultivators. The technical and economic system was disrupted by the rapid industrialisation of nearby areas after 1900. This raised the demand for marketed rice and caused a substantial outflow of small-scale cultivators. Shortage of hired labour forced larger cultivators to split up their holdings, and the proportion of middle-sized cultivators increased. Such farmers were under pressure to find ways of lessening the labour requirements for irrigation and raising output. The solution to their problems was developed by local government and extension officials, who assisted the manufacturers in the design of an electric pump. This innovation was rapidly diffused through communal purchase of the pumps by village organisations. It was the breakthrough which permitted the adoption of other new techniques, leading to substantial rises in yields and labour productivity. It intensified the trend towards increasing proportions of medium-scale family farms. The study suggests conclusions as to the institutional requirements for the development of appropriate techniques and the relationship between technical and structural change in agriculture. -3- acknowledgements The work for this thesis was carried out while I was a student at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. I spent 18 months in Japan, during which time I was based at the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo. The writing was completed while I was working at the Institute of Agricultural Economics, University of Oxford. I am grateful to all three institutions for time, research facilities and the help of many of their members, and to the School of Oriental and African Studies and London University for financial support. To my supervisor, Dr. Christopher Howe, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, I also offer my thanks for patient help and guidance over many years. Of the many others who have helped me, I must single out Professor Shigeru Ishikawa, of Hitotsubashi University, who intro­ duced me to Saga and whose ideas are the inspiration behind the framework of the thesis,and Professor Shujiroo Sawada, of Fukuoka University, who looked after me while I was in Kyuushuu and made my time there a pleasure as well as an education. I should like to thank also the following: Dr. Tatsuo Yamada, of Kyuushuu University; Dr. Toshihiko Isobe, of the Noogyoo Soogoo Kenkyuujo, Tokyo; Dr. Shoojiroo Miyajima, of the Saga Experiment Station; Professor Choo and Mr. Kai, of Kyuushuu Univer­ sity; Mr. J. Uchiyama and Mr. S. Nakamura, of the Agricultural and Forest Land Division of the Saga Prefectural Government; Professor Itoo and Dr. Kudoo, of Saga University; Mr. Jun Katata, of Fukuoka University; Dr. Shigemochi Hirashima, of the Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo; Professor K.R. Walker, of the School of Oriental and African Studies, London; and Mrs. Frances Stewart, of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, Queen Elizabeth House, Oxford. -4- CONVENTIONS Romanis ation. Japanese words are romanised according to the Hepburn System, but using double letters to indicate long vowel sounds. Exceptions are made where a different romanised form is very familiar to English readers, e.g. Tokyo is used instead of Tookyoo. Measurements. Japanese measurements have been converted into their metric equivalents. The Japanese area measure, the choo (= 10 tan) , is almost exactly equal to a hectare. One koku of rice is equivalent to 150 kilograms. Figures for yields originally calculated in koku per tan are therefore converted into kilograms per 10 ares (10 ares = 0. 1 hectares) . Dates - Western dates are given throughout, but occasionally Japanese era names are used, following the practice of Japanese writers, to denote periods of time. The Tokugawa period lasted from 1603 until 1867, and the Meiji period from 1868 (the Meiji Restoration) until 1912. References. Works set out in the bibliography are indicated in the text and footnotes by the author's name, followed by a number showing position in the bibliography list. -5- CONTENTS page ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 CONVENTIONS 4 CHAPTER 1 Introduction and Framework 10 CHAPTER 2 Technical Change and the Economic Organisation of Agriculture in Pre-war Japan 25 I. The Macro-economic Outline of Agricultural Development in Japan and in Saga 25 1. The Rate of Growth of Agricultural Output in Japan 25 2. Changes in Inputs 30 3. The Saga Plain in Comparison 32 II. Technical, Economic and Institutional Change in Pre-war Japanese Agriculture 37 1. The Socio-economic Organisation of Agricultural Production 37 (i) the household, (ii) the village (iii) land ownership and tenure, (iv) the village and the outside world 2. Technology 51 (i) resources and production techniques, (ii) technical change in the pre-war period 3. Links between Technical and Structural Change 57 A note on data sources 63 CHAPTER 3 The Initial Conditions of the Saga Plain Area 66 1. Technology and Resource Endowments 66 (i) environmental conditions, (ii) technology 2. The Distribution of Productive Assets among Households 82 (i) land, (ii) land quality, (iii) horses and other capital assets 3. Economic Relationships within the Village 88 4. The Operation of Farm Household Economies -6- page and some Examples 92 5. The Saga Plain and the Outside World during the Initial Conditions Period 101 (i) the village and outside markets (ii) the village and the authorities CHAPTER 4 The Impact of Industrialisation on the Initial Conditions 108 1. The Demand for Saga Rice 109 2. The Demand for Labour 118 3. The Impact of Industrialisation on Household Economies 125 4. Changes in the Size Distribution of Holdings 132 5. Disequilibrium in Structure and Technology 138 CHAPTER 5 The Development and Introduction of Mechanised Irrigation Pumps 141 1. The Emergence of the Problem 142 2. The Research Authorities and the Development of the Mechanised Pump 145 3. The Diffusion of Mechanised Pumping in the Villages 153 CHAPTER 6 The Development of a New Economic Structure, 1923-39 163 1. The Immediate Impact of Mechanical Irrigation and Late Planting 163 2. Technical Change after 1923 167 (i) the intensification of land and labour use, (ii) mechanisation 3. Changes in the Structure of the Farm Household Economy and the Village Community 176 (i) the farm household economy, (ii) the village community CHAPTER 7 Conclusions 199 1. The Initial Conditions Phase 200 2. Determining the Direction of Technical Change 203 3. The Social and Economic Effects of Technical Change 209 -7- page APPENDIX TABLES 214 BIBLIOGRAPHY 222 TABLES 2.1 Summary Table of Trends in Agricultural Output and Inputs in Pre-war Japan 26 2.2 Macro-economic Trends in Saga compared with the Whole of Japan 33 2.3 The Distribution of Households by Area Owned (Whole Country) 42 2.4 The Distribution of Households by Area Cultivated (Whole Country) 42 2.5 The Distribution of Agricultural Households by Status (Whole Country) 46 3.1 Size Distribution of Land Ownership in a Group of Saga Plain Villages at the Beginning of the Meiji Period and in 1881 84 3.2 The Distribution of Labour Time in Household N 96 3.3 Results of the 1913-15 Rice Economy Survey, Saga Plain Area 99 4.1 Numbers of Employees of the Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Company in Nagasaki, 1889-19 36 110 4.2 The Market for Saga Rice 113 4.3 The Price of Rice in Saga City, 1899-19 37 114 4.4 Proportion of Produced Rice Sold in 1917 117 4.5 Populations of Fukuoka and Nagasaki Prefectures by Place of Origin, 1930 120 4.6 Wages of Male Agricultural Labourers in Saga 123 4.7 Calculations of Hypothetical Changes in Expenses and Incomes of Saga Plain Farmers between 1913-15 and 1922 129 4.8 Changes in the Distribution of Households