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A Tale of Japanese Technological Diffusion in the Meiji Period

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  • Saxonhouse, Gary

Abstract

Fifteen or so years ago and for many decades before that, popularly speaking, it was not uncommon to think of the Japanese as slavish imitators of foreign technology. As research workers in economic history, we recognize that slavish imitation of foreign technology is no easy matter. Foreign technical practice is hardly uniform. Choice among a number of competing technologies is hardly child's play. Young Japanese students of a century ago were enjoined to go overseas, discover what was best and make it Japanese. Such injunctions by a semi-feudal oligarchy and its intellectual supporters while progressive in spirit were naive. One process rarely dominates international industry. What was useful for the world's leader might not be appropriate for the human and nonhuman resource endowment of late nineteenth-century Japan. Initially, Japan's worldwide search led it to adopt a French-style army, an American-style banking system, and a British-style cotton textile industry. In time each of these models were either discarded in favor of other national models or otherwise modified to meet the imperatives of assimilation.

Suggested Citation

  • Saxonhouse, Gary, 1974. "A Tale of Japanese Technological Diffusion in the Meiji Period," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(1), pages 149-165, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:34:y:1974:i:01:p:149-165_07
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    Cited by:

    1. Braguinsky, Serguey & Rose, David C., 2009. "Competition, cooperation, and the neighboring farmer effect," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 361-376, October.
    2. John P. Tang, 2016. "A tale of two SICs: Japanese and American industrialisation in historical perspective," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(2), pages 174-197, July.
    3. Ashish Arora & Michelle Gittelman & Sarah Kaplan & John Lynch & Will Mitchell & Nicolaj Siggelkow & Serguey Braguinsky & David A. Hounshell, 2016. "History and nanoeconomics in strategy and industry evolution research: Lessons from the Meiji-Era Japanese cotton spinning industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 45-65, January.
    4. Tetsuji Okazaki, 2021. "The Impact of Technological Change on Labor and Wage: The Japanese Silk Weaving Industry during the Industrial Revolution," CIGS Working Paper Series 21-002E, The Canon Institute for Global Studies.
    5. Tomoko HASHINO & Keijiro Otsuka, 2021. "Selective Technology Choice, Adaptations, and Industrial Development: Lessons from Japanese Historical Experience," Discussion Papers 2124, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    6. Leslie Hannah & Robert Bennett, 2022. "Large‐scale Victorian manufacturers: Reconstructing the lost 1881 UK employer census," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(3), pages 830-856, August.
    7. Ilan Noy & Toshihiro Okubo & Eric Strobl, 2023. "The Japanese textile sector and the influenza pandemic of 1918–1920," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(5), pages 1192-1227, November.
    8. Rajshree Agarwal & Serguey Braguinsky & Atsushi Ohyama, 2020. "Centers of gravity: The effect of stable shared leadership in top management teams on firm growth and industry evolution," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 467-498, March.
    9. Serguey Braguinsky, 2015. "Knowledge diffusion and industry growth: the case of Japan’s early cotton spinning industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 24(4), pages 769-790.
    10. Kelley, Maryellen R. & Arora, Ashish, 1996. "The role of institution-building in US industrial modernization programs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 265-279, March.
    11. Atsushi Ohyama & Serguey Braguinsky & Kevin M. Murphy, 2004. "Entrepreneurial Ability and Market Selection in an Infant Industry: Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Spinning Industry," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(2), pages 354-381, April.
    12. Tetsuji Okazaki, 2021. "The Impact of Technological Change on Labor: The Japanese Silk Weaving Industry during the Industrial Revolution," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1166, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    13. Ohyama, Atsushi & Braguinsky, Serguey & Murphy, Kevin M., 2001. "Entrepreneurial Ability, Market Selection and Setting Up an Infant Industry-Theory and Evidence from the Japanese Cotton Textile Industry," Working Papers 163, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    14. Nicholas, Tom, 2011. "The origins of Japanese technological modernization," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 272-291, April.
    15. John P. Tang, 2016. "A tale of two SICs: Japanese and American industrialisation in historical perspective," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(2), pages 174-197, July.

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