Japanese Modernisation and the Changing Everyday Life of the Consumer: Evidence from Household Accounts

Abstract

In Japanese economic history circles in recent years attention has been shifting away from the production side and towards consumption. This perhaps reflects the growing concern, in the contemporary world, with the nature and quality, and not just the quantity, of consumption goods. However, research into Japan’s consumption history is hampered by a lack of the kinds of surviving evidence, such as inventories and wills, which has been used to evaluate the historical accumulation of goods in Europe and North America. On the other hand, Japanese scholars have been able to access a number of collections of the account books frequently kept by landowning and business households in the past. These typically record the income and expenditure of the household under various categories, and can thus provide a valuable source of detailed information on the goods and services acquired by households engaging with the commercial economy in different parts of the country.