IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/chnrpt/v51y2015i2p87-101.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Smell of the Soil

Author

Listed:
  • G. Balatchandirane

    (Department of East Asian Studies University of Delhi, Delhi)

Abstract

For long, the study of Japanese economic history of the prewar period has been colored by the dominant view of the modernisation economists who clearly held an anti-Marxist or a non-Marxist approach. One casualty of this approach has been the neglect of the rich micro level studies and data that are available on this period in the Japanese language. The standard view of agricultural development in Japan tends to ignore or gloss over the various struggles and difficulties the poor peasant went through. This article highlights the availability of diaries and other records left by the poor or the tenant farmers of the Meiji and Taisho periods. It shows how a study of these, along with the macro picture presented by the modernisation economists, completes the canvas and brings one closer to the realities of the prewar period. It raises questions about the image of a smooth and painless transition to modernisation that has been holding centre stage in the discourse about Japan for so long.

Suggested Citation

  • G. Balatchandirane, 2015. "Smell of the Soil," China Report, , vol. 51(2), pages 87-101, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:chnrpt:v:51:y:2015:i:2:p:87-101
    DOI: 10.1177/0009445515570442
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0009445515570442
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0009445515570442?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Thorbecke, 1970. "The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number thor70-1.
    2. Kazushi Ohkawa & Bruce F. Johnston, 1970. "The Transferability of the Japanese Pattern of Modernizing Traditional Agriculture," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development, pages 277-310, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. G. Balatchandirane, 2018. "Not without Blood, Sweat and Tears," China Report, , vol. 54(2), pages 194-212, May.
    2. Nepal Rastra Bank NRB, 2015. "Agricultural Credit and its Impact on Farm Productivity: A Case Study of Kailali District," Working Papers id:7055, eSocialSciences.
    3. Manoj Atolia & Mr. Prakash Loungani & Milton Marquis & Mr. Chris Papageorgiou, 2018. "Rethinking Development Policy: Deindustrialization, Servicification and Structural Transformation," IMF Working Papers 2018/223, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Atolia, Manoj & Loungani, Prakash & Marquis, Milton & Papageorgiou, Chris, 2020. "Rethinking development policy: What remains of structural transformation?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Pina, Gilson M. G., 2013. "Mudança estrutural e a relação entre os setores em Cabo Verde [Structural change and the sectoral linkage in Cape Verde]," MPRA Paper 46015, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:chnrpt:v:51:y:2015:i:2:p:87-101. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.