Japan - The Hungry Guest (Paperback)

JAPAN the Hungry Guest by G. C. ALLEN B runner Professor of Economic Science University of Liverpool You said you must Because your horse - was tired I said I must go Because my silkworms were hungry ARTHUR WALEY trans. NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON CO., INC. 1938 FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1938 BENKE1 BRIDGE, TOKYO TO MY WIFE PREFACE NO one who has had the good fortune to live in Japan has ever failed to be profoundly influenced by his experience, for the country exercises a fascination, which cannot be resisted, over the minds of all who come to her, even of those who are her most bitter critics. From the time of my first arrival in Japan about sixteen years ago the country has held for me an interest which has deepened with the years, and I have felt for her people an affection which has never cooled. I returned to England in 1925, after holding an appointment, for three years in a Government College at Nagoya, and shortly afterwards my general impressions and the results of my studies of economic conditions were embodied in a book en titled Modern Japan and Its Problems. In 1936 1 paid a second visit to Japan, at the request of the Bureau of International Research of Harvard University and Radcliffe College, mainly for the purpose of collecting data for the study of the development and organization of Japanese industry. The results of these researches are published in America. Apart from my detailed investigations into industrial conditions, during the months I spent in Japan I had an opportunity of comparing many aspects of Japanese life in 1936 with those I remembered from my former residence in the country. I renewed old friendships and made new ones, and I had discussions on many political andsocial questions that interested me. The informa tion provided in this way, and the impressions which I gained, were of utmost help to me in my efforts to trace the tendencies in Japans . social, political, and economic life with which this book deals. The book has been written since the outbreak of the war with China, and Japans actions during this time have been the object of widespread condemnation. An author cannot hope to escape completely from the effects of this heated atmosphere, especially in these days of propaganda. But I have tried to write objectively and without prejudice, and I hope that in recording the io JAPAN THE HUNGRY GUEST facts I have not been influenced either by my affection for Japanese people or by my personal views about Japanese fore policy. Here and there I have not hesitated to evaluate tenden and events, nor to express my own judgments. But I hope th have left the reader in no doubt about what are inductions from observed facts and what are interpretations or criticisms depenc upon my own opinions and outlook. Many Japanese friends and acquaintances have contribt information and have admitted me to intimacy with much tha peculiar to Japanese life. I can record my indebtedness to c one of them to my late friend, Mr. Takeshi Matsumura. . several of the photographs I should like to thank Mr. A. Morik and Mr. J. Bewsher. My wife has given me invaluable help criticism at every stage in the writing of this book. G. C. ALL March 1938 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE PREFACE 9 I. INTRODUCTION 15 II. NIPPON SEISHIN 21 III. INFINITE VARIETY 39 IV. THE STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY 55 V. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE 74 VI. FIELDS, FACTORIES, AND WORKSHOPS 92 VII. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTUP TO THE WORLD DEPRESSION 115 VIII. INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY AND THE INVA SION OF MARKETS 137 IX. THE CONDITION OF THE WORKERS 159 X. JAPAN INTO NIPPON 185 XI. MANIFEST DESTINY 214 XII. CONCLUSION 239 APPENDIX. AN ESTIMATE OF THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS UPON JAPAN OF THE SINO JAPANESE WAR 247 GLOSSARY 255 INDEX 257 ILLUSTRATIONS fato PLATE I. BENKEI BRIDGE, TOKYO Frontispiece FACING PAGE II. A STREET IN NAGOYA FIFTEEN YEARS AGO 32 FACTORY-SHRINE AT A MITSUBISHI AERO PLANE WORKS 32 III. FAMILY TAKING A WALK 48 MIDDLE-SCHOOL BOYS 48 IV...