Japanese Economic History (6) Dual Structure

Author: Nakamura Takae
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1997-09-01
Features: Volume 6 focuses on showcasing the economic conditions from the outbreak of World War I in 1914 to the eve of the Sino-Japanese War in 1937. The period from the end of World War I in 1919 to the eve of World War II is known as the interwar period. In the early 20th century, the entire world was exhausted by war and then ushered in a brief period of peace, but this was merely a fleeting moment, as can be glimpsed from the term "interwar period." During this time, the global economy faced numerous challenges. First came the deflation of the 1920s, followed by the world economic crisis in the early 1930s. Japan developed its economy resiliently amid these turbulent global circumstances. Volume 6 is titled "Dual Structure." This is one of the structural issues that emerged internally within the Japanese economy under the unstable external environment (and which was repeated after World War II). It was during this period that internal changes occurred in the Japanese economy, long regarded as the uniqueness of the Japanese economy. However, from a modern perspective, we should focus on the causes within the economic structure, represented by the labor market, during the process of economic development. This volume, "3 Dual Structure," attempts to examine through examples the process of the emergence and development of the so-called "dual structure," including the differences between industrial and agricultural sectors, the flow of labor to cities, the rise of domestic servants, and the development of urban small and medium-sized industries.