Abstract
The changes in agricultural population in Japan from the earlier Meiji era to the end fo the inter-war period have been studied intensively by Japanese economists.1 We can now conclude that there was no dramatic and discontinuous change in the trend of the number of persons gainfully engaged in agriculture in Japan over as long a period as nearly seventy years — that is, from about 1870 to 1940. It is a surprising fact that the agricultural population in Japan remained at about 14 million for the whole seventy years down to the outbreak of the Second World War, in spite of the fact that there were considerable changes in the structure of agricultural enterprises, progress in farming technologies, and increasing demands for labour from non-agricultural sectors of the economy. It is also to be noted that the number of farm households remained nearly unchanged at about 5–5 million all the time through the same period of years (see Fig. 12.1).
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Notes
F. D. W. Taylor, ‘United Kingdom: Numbers in Agriculture’, Farm Economist, VIII, 4 (1955) 36–40.
See, for example, Kenzo Hemmi, ‘Nogyo Jinko no Koteisei’ [‘The Constancy of Agricultural Population’], in Seiichi Tobata and Kazushi Ohkawa (eds.), Nihon no Keizai to Nogyo [Japanese Economy and Agriculture], vol. I (Tokyo, 1956) pp. 124–7.
See also Mataji Umemura, Chingin, Koyo, Nogyo [Wages, Employment and Agriculture] (Tokyo, 1961) pp. 118–37.
In comparison with the British case, see Takeo Misawa, ‘Nogyo Shugyojinko no Hendo Niokeru Tokushitsu’ [Characteristic Features of Changes in Agricultural Population’], Nogyo Sogo Kenkyu [Quarterly Journal of Agricultural Economy], XIV, 3 (Tokyo, July 1960).
Kazushi Ohkawa, ‘Phases of Agricultural Development and Economic Growth’, in K. Ohkawa et al. (eds.), Agriculture and Economic Growth: Japan’s Experience (Univ. of Tokyo Press, 1969; Princeton Univ. Press, 1970; Oxford Univ. Press, 1970).
J. R. Bellerby, ‘The Distribution of Manpower in Agriculture and Industry, 1851–1951’, Farm Economist, IX, 1 (1958).
Kazushi Ohkawa, The Growth Rate of the Japanese Economy since 1878 (Tokyo, 1957) p. 26.
J. R. Bellerby, Agriculture and Industry: Relative Income (London, 1956) pp. 16–36.
Nobufumi Kayo (ed.), Nihon Nogyo Kiso Tokei [Basic Statistics of Japanese Agriculture] (Tokyo, 1958) pp. 180–1.
Seiichi Tobata, Nihon Nogyo no Tenkai Katei [The Developing Process of Japanese Agriculture] (Tokyo, 1936) pp. 248–52.
W. Arthur Lewis, ‘Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour’, Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies (May 1954);
Kazushi Ohkawa, ‘Agriculture and the Turning-Points in Economic Growth’, Developing Economies, III, 4 (Dec 1965).
See, for example, Takeo Misawa, ‘Agrarian Reform, Employment and Rural Incomes in Japan’, in Agrarian Reform and Employment (Geneva: International Labour Office, 1971) pp. 143–63.
See also R. P. Dore, Land Reform in Japan (Oxford Univ. Press, 1959).
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© 1974 International Economic Association
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Misawa, T. (1974). Agricultural Development and Employment Expansion: A Case Study of Japan. In: Islam, N. (eds) Agricultural Policy in Developing Countries. International Economic Association Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-63663-1_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-63663-1_12
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