Abstract
Around the year 1900 new types of fertilizer such as chemical fertilizers and animal-based fertilizers began to appear in the Japanese fertilizer market, and at the same time there were new entrants handling these fertilizers. The lack of information on the fertilizers themselves and on the new entrants caused confusion, which consequently degraded the quality of market. Amid this confusion, the Agricultural Experiment Station of the then Department of Agriculture and Commerce in 1893 inaugurated a service called the request analysis service that accepted requests from the “public” to analyze the composition of fertilizers. Because use of this service was non-binding, this was thus not sufficient to eliminate all frauds ; on the other hand, because of the inexpensive nature of obtaining the “cachet” from this public organization, it was broadly used by new entrants in the fertilizer market. The information on the new fertilizers (components, good dealers, etc.) furnished by the Agricultural Experiment Station was not only released by the Station but also aggressively used by the new entrants in their advertisements, promotional brochures, and other PR documents to aid them in acquiring credibility. In addition, the existing fertilizer market already had an established information communication channel and accommodated the new entrants with a ready means of spreading information . Some of the fertilizer merchants who used this service gained credibility and saw significant business growth, hence playing a role in bridging the fertilizer demand and new fertilizer supply. By promoting the entry of new companies into the market and acquainting the public with new fertilizers, the request analysis service reduced the confusion in the fertilizer market and contributed to the alleviation of the demand crunch.
This chapter is the result of research supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education: Keio University/Kyoto University Joint Global Center of Excellence Program on Raising Market Quality and Integrated Design of “Market Infrastructure”. The chapter is based on an article that originally appeared in Shakai Keizai Shigaku 76(3):101–116 (November 2010). The English version has been substantially revised.
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Notes
- 1.
Fertilizers consist of two broad categories: self-supporting fertilizers made by farmers themselves (e.g., compost and manure) and marketed fertilizers purchased from external sources (purchased fertilizers). This study focuses on the fertilizer trade, and thus the subject matter is limited to the latter. Consequently, “fertilizer” and “fertilizer market” in this document point to the marketed fertilizers and the salable fertilizer market.
- 2.
Yano defines a quality market as “a market in which good products are traded with fair prices and to which better products are constantly introduced.” By this definition, “good quality of the market” in this study would indicate “a market in which fertilizers that improve crop productivity are traded with fair prices and to which new, more effective fertilizers are constantly introduced.” Per contra, a market where consumers do not attempt to access effective new fertilizers because of fraud or lack of knowledge has “poor market quality” (Yano 2005, pp. 3–4).
- 3.
Dai Nippon Jinzō Hiryō was formerly Tokyo Jinzō Hiryō.
- 4.
The Taki family was originally a fish oil cake merchant and Kumejirō succeeded the family business (Taki Kumejirō Denki Hensankai 1955, pp. 21–30).
- 5.
Kanematsu Shōten was engaged in Japan–Australia trade with wool, beef tallow, and rawhide as their three major goods. In that process, they came upon animal-based fertilizers and imported them to Japan (Kobe Daigaku Keizaikeiei Kenkyūjo 2006, pp. 36–37, 136–137).
- 6.
Later, in 1896, the Mutsu branch station was established in Akita, Tokai branch station in Aichi, and Sanin branch station in Shimane. In the same year, the names of the pre-existing branch stations were changed to Tōō branch station, Hokuriku branch station, Kinai branch station, Sanyo branch station, Shikoku branch station, and Kyushu branch station (Saitō 1970, p. 126).
- 7.
Nōji shiken seiseki (The Agricultural Experiment Record) shared volumes among the main station and branch stations; the first volume is about the main station, and volumes two through ten were about Osaka, Miyagi, Ishikawa, Hiroshima, Tokushima, Kumamoto, Aichi, Akita, and Shimane branch station, respectively.
- 8.
This is because “there was no money to buy analytical equipment, apparatus, and chemicals” (Sawano 1894, p. 5).
- 9.
The fee of 50 sen per substance for fertilizer analysis and 25 sen for each additional substance was for quantitative analysis. The service fee for quantitative analysis for non-fertilizer substances was 1 yen per substance for soil analysis with 50 sen for each additional substance, 50 sen per substance for crop/feed analysis with 30 sen for each additional substance, 1 yen 50 sen per substance for analysis of agricultural products with 1 yen for each additional substance, and 3 yen per substance for water analysis with 1 yen for each additional substance (Dai Nippon Teikoku 1893).
- 10.
The serial number was up to No. 1230, but with 2 duplications and 9 missing or canceled requests.
- 11.
The first request number recorded in the historical document was No. 1434 (Nōgyōkankyōgijutsukenkyūjo 2005 p. 32).
- 12.
It is unknown whether “oil cake” here refers to plant-derived fertilizers like bean oil cake or cottonseed oil cake, or fish oil cake like sardine oil cake or herring oil cake produced as a byproduct when extracting oil from fish.
- 13.
The date of request is not noted for requests up to No. 145 on the Tenth Report and earlier reports.
- 14.
However, as shown in Table 3, there were cases in which a brief description was provided. In particular, requests up to No. 92 were all furnished with this kind of description.
- 15.
Examples of title notations include: “Fertilizer Purchase Union Clerk,” “Fertilizer Joint Purchase Union Member,” “Fertilizer Joint Purchase Credit Union Representative,” and “Fertilizer Joint Purchase Union Chief.”
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Takahashi, C. (2017). The Fraudulent Fertilizer Problem in the Late Meiji Era: Credibility Acquisition by New Market Entrants and the Agricultural Experiment Stations. In: Furuta, K., Grove, L. (eds) Imitation, Counterfeiting and the Quality of Goods in Modern Asian History. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3752-8_3
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