Wyatt L.T. III The Industrial Revolution

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Other Western powers soon entered Japan and forced the nation to

sign treaties that gave them great advantages.

The Perry mission and the subsequent arrival of a number of

European powers created a crisis in the government that rapidly

caused the ultimate collapse of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The result

was the restoration of the traditional power of the imperial dignity in

1868, a historical event known as the Meiji Restoration. In reality a

small number of nobles controlled the machinery of government in the

name of the emperor and made the decision to imitate Western ways

but to do so within Japanese societal norms in order to maintain inde-

pendence from Western influence. According to an ancient Japanese

saying, ‘‘What the upper likes, the lower learns to like still more.’’

the 1870s the imperial government soon took a direct hand in promot-

ing change. (see Document 8). The marriage of politics and capital was

the key component to instituting the growth of mass production. Thus,

Japan initially emphasized the development of technology over scien-

tific research and development, as had the United States in the early

stages.

A prime example of this thrust can be found in the growth of

the Japanese cotton textile industry. In 1880 Japan had only two mills

with 20,000 spindles each. In 1900 the number of spindles had grown

to 1.3 million, and by 1913 that number of spindles was 2.2 million.

In time foreign capital and later Japanese private investors played the

major role in the nation’s efforts to industrialize and modernize. The

first major initiative was the creation of a national railroad system to

unify the country and provide a conduit for rapid economic growth. It

was a difficult prospect at first, as it cost virtually the same to ship an

item 50 miles by rail as it did to transport it to Europe. However, the

situation soon changed dramatically. In two decades the Japanese had

constructed nearly 2,000 miles of track with only 550 miles funded by

the government. Soon the government and private capital poured their

energies into coal, lead, copper, gold, and silver mining enterprises

supported by procuring modern technical machinery from the West.

Shipbuilding and shipping companies also garnered assistance in order

to break the Western grip on trade and commerce. In this industry ini-

tiative and dedication led to the creation of such colossus enterprises

as the Mitsubishi Company, which had as its initial enterprise the fer-

rying of passengers and freight items along the Japanese coast. Eventu-

ally, this company diversified and entered insurance, banking, and

mining businesses. This approach set the standard for later industrial

and business ventures known as the zabaitsu or large industrial compa-

nies that secured foreign banking loans and established important po-

litical ties within the government in order to gain and maintain

advantage. The Japanese government also fostered the growth of

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textiles but preferred an emphasis on heavy versus light industry. The

push for heavy industry had distinct military overtones and proved its

success with victories in conflicts with Taiwan in the 1880s and China

in the 1890s.

These great strides in creating an industrial base took place de-

spite the inability of Japan to impose any tariffs on Western goods until

the early 20th century. The continued pressure of Western nations

forced Japan to cope with this inequitable situation. Government poli-

cies and support, the cultural unity of the Japanese people, and the

industrious nature of the Japanese workers all contributed to a success-

ful transition. One example was the productivity of the Japanese

farmer. Once feudalism was abolished in the 19th century more free

trade opportunities emerged. Many farmers obtained titles to their

land, and even if they worked for landlords they often got access to

modern farm equipment and a new batch of fertilizers to increase crop

yields. Output for agricultural products, particularly rice, soared.

Japan’s population growth also accelerated from thirty million in 1868

to forty-five million in 1900. Like the British and later continental ex-

perience, the increased productivity of a smaller number of farmers

allowed for a portion of the agrarian labor force to move to urban areas

and factories.

The Japanese natural penchant for adoption and adaptation had

other characteristics. Beginning with the Iwakura mission in 1871, the

government sponsored agents to travel to the West and see firsthand

how their societies were organized to support industrialization. Cur-

rency reform and the establishment of the Bank of Japan also occurred

during this period. An important area of emphasis was universal edu-

cation, one that did not have a gender bias. By 1890, 64% of boys and

31% of girls attended primary schools. By the early 20th century, 98%

of all children between the ages of 6 and 13 received a primary educa-

tion, and a healthy percentage of older children pursued additional for-

mal learning opportunities. The reverence for education played an

important role in maintaining a highly skilled workforce and a cohe-

sive society. Japan also sent students abroad to study modern ideas in

Western colleges and universities and specifically to learn languages,

science, and technology. In addition, Japan created the Imperial Uni-

versity and Schools of Mechanical Engineering and Agriculture. Mili-

tary officers studied the German and French armies and British navy,

and the government adopted the Western model of universal conscrip-

tion. In 1889, Japan introduced its version of a constitutional mon-

archy with the creation of a parliament or diet, although the ruling

clique behind the scenes maintained the responsibility for the actual

day-to-day exercise of power.

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THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Japanese industry also initially depended heavily on raw materi-

als, technology, and machine parts from the West in order to produce

goods for sale abroad. The shift from rural to urban took place at a

moderate pace. Factories changed these work approaches for good,

even though the vast majority of them were small enterprises. This sit-

uation seemed to mirror the same dilemma that faced other areas of

the world that attempted to industrialize. To offset a trade imbalance,

one answer was silk exports, which increased from 2.3 million pounds

in 1870 to ten million pounds by 1900. Furthermore, Japan took a dif-

ferent approach by moving quickly to develop its own industrial infra-

structure and break the hold of Western powers. This transition to an

industrialized society occurred gradually and ultimately redefined

work roles in Japan. Agrarian workers, which made up 80% of the

Japanese workforce in 1870, still constituted a healthy 67% of the total

at the turn of the 20th century. But the skill of the Japanese also

impressed the West. According to one account, at the 1876 U.S.

Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, ‘‘It is especially the tools of the

Japanese workmen which attracts the most attention,’’ as their imple-

ments are ‘‘handled with much ease and produce the most admirable

results.’’

At a later worldwide technical exhibition, Japanese con-

struction workers were praised for their ‘‘nimbleness and neatness’’

and the quality of their labor.

The lot of the Japanese workers, like their European and Russian

counterparts, was initially difficult. In the pre-industrial world, agrarian

workers had a tempo of work and leisure, and artisans in urban areas

belonged to regulatory guilds and had sufficient time for worldly pur-

suits. Conditions were generally poor, especially in the mining industry,

as workers often toiled under extreme temperatures and the fear of cor-

poral punishment. Workdays averaged twelve hours or longer. The low

level of wages exacerbated this situation and also led to worker migra-

tion from job to job. Long hours and low pay also cut into leisure time,

and workers had a monotonous cycle of working, eating, and sleeping.

The Japanese workforce also had a larger percentage of women than that

of Western nations, although the majority was found in smaller enter-

prises. By comparison, in 1900 women comprised just over 10% of the

workforce in Great Britain, about 30% in France, and 62% in Japan.

Women workers in Japan also faced more hardships than their Western

counterparts. Often their wages were lower than men, and at times they

were not paid on a timely basis by their employers to ensure their

appearance on the job. Health conditions were frequently horrid and

many women got sick because of the poor conditions.

Child labor was another matter. The Japanese government drafted

a factory law in 1887 that resembled Germany’s legislation. This act

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The Industrial Revolution beyond the West

would have placed constraints on the ages and hours that children

could work in industrial enterprises. High ranking political and busi-

ness leaders, however, resisted its implementation, arguing that it

would slow industrial growth. The legislation languished for several

decades until Japan’s first factory law was passed in 1911. This act also

had limitations but did provide for inspectors to ensure that chil-

dren under the age of sixteen did not work more than twelve hours

a day and that their employment could not occur between the hours

of 10

P.M. and 4 A.M. The call for such reform came primarily from

liberal politicians and humanitarians in higher education, who

pushed for changes in an effort to blunt the power of highly influen-

tial industrialists. In reality, after 1900 the Japanese government had

become convinced that a reduction in child labor would lead to

higher employment of adult males and thus reduce potential labor

unrest.

Although industrialization created some initial stress as men left

home to find employment and a large number of women entered the

labor force, Japan had a remarkably rapid and successful transition

from an isolated, agrarian society to a modern industrial state. After

the arrival of Commodore Perry, the nation made a decision to

embrace Western political and economic techniques. But the Japanese

approach to industrialization did not undermine its ancient values and

customs and fit nicely with its long-held belief in paternalism. The fab-

ric of Japanese society remained tightly woven and characterized by

strict obedience and respect given to government officials and employ-

ers. It should be emphasized that Japan at the turn of the 20th century

was only one-twentieth the size of the United States but possessed a ro-

bust population of forty-five million people. Japan was an ancient

country with long-held traditions, whereas the United States was new

and growing. Yet Japan made the most of its resources and potential, a

fact that can be measured by its expanding influence in the Pacific by

1900 and the admiration and awe of its accomplishments expressed by

the Western powers.

Conclusion

During the second half of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolu-

tion had a variety of effects on the non-Western world. The power of

the industrialized nations of the West overwhelmed the efforts of areas

such as India, the Middle East, and Latin America to become equal

partners. Political difficulties, cultural differences, lack of education,

little home-grown entrepreneurship, few means to attract capital

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THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

resources, and the creation of virtually no industrial proletariat spelled

doom for their transformation to industrialized societies. For the most

part, these areas continued to provide cash crops and raw materials to

Western nations in return for purchasing finished products and com-

modities and only limited amounts of machinery and technology that

might have assisted their entry into the Industrial Revolution. In con-

trast, two distinct areas, Russia and Japan, were the exception to the

norm and did make significant progress toward industrialization in the

last half of the 19th century. Their success was remarkable when com-

pared to other areas of the world and came about in spite of signifi-

cantly different starting positions and conditions. Neither country

possessed the advantages that Western nations had parlayed into the

creation of industrialized societies. Both nations retained a larger

agrarian class and did not experience dramatic urbanization. In addi-

tion, they operated within the constraints of government structures

that looked at industrialization with different perspectives. Russia

and Japan had to obtain sufficient capital for investment and also

Western technology in order to compete, and did so without having

to develop their own large class of inventors or pool of new inven-

tions. Finally, a dearth of native resources and the inability to secure

them from external sources for a time seemed questionable at best.

By 1900 both Russia and Japan solved these problems and proceeded

to develop a level of industrialization that astounded contemporary

observers. In so doing, these nations took on many of the character-

istics of the nations that had previously industrialized. Each experi-

enced significant technological and organizational changes related to

the new economic realities that altered the nature of work and soci-

ety in their respective countries. But Russia and Japan did so in an

environment in which they had to react to the pressure of the previ-

ously industrialized nations while at the same moment transforming

their traditional societies. However, in the end Russia and Japan took

different paths to industrialization and had different results. Japan

succeeded without social unrest that might have disrupted the eco-

nomic growth of the nation. Russia, on the other hand, found the

experience more painful in the long term and as a result faced the

consequences of the social and political upheavals in the Revolutions

of 1905 and 1917. Thus, by the 20th century the Industrial Revolu-

tion had extended its impact beyond Western societies. Its scope and

influence was somewhat muted in areas such as India, the Middle

East, and Latin America but became a transforming force in others

such as Japan and Russia. As a result the nature of the world’s

economies and the course of world history had been changed

forever.

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Notes

1. Stearns, The Industrial Revolution in World History,74–76.

2. Ibid., 75–76.

3. Ibid., 77; Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 22, No. 1 (January 1880),

13; Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 11, No. 1 (January 1879), 4.

4. Stearns, The Industrial Revolution in World History,72–73.

5. Ibid., 99–103.

6. Ibid., 100–103.

7. Commodore Matthew C. Perry’s Expedition to Japan and Related

Activities as Described in the Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Navy,

1852–1854 (Navy Department Library, Department of the Navy, Naval His-

torical Center, W ashington, D.C.), http://history.navy.mil/bios/perry_mc_secnav.

html

8. C. Okuma, ‘‘The Industrial Revolution in Japan,’’ The North Ameri-

can Review, Vol. 171, No. 538 (November 1900), 678.

9. Hindle & Lubar, Engines of Change, 273.

10. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus, 241; Okuma, ‘‘The Industrial

Revolution in Japan,’’ The North American Review, 684.

11. Nardinelli, Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution, 147; Okuma,

‘‘The Industrial Revolution in Japan,’’ The North American Review, 681–682.

12. Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 8, No. 4 (April 1876), 73–74.

13. Manufacturer and Builder, Vol. 25, No. 4 (April 1893), 94.

14. Stearns, The Industrial Revolution in World History, 124–129.

15. Nardinelli, Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution, 138–139.

16. Okuma, ‘‘The Industrial Revolution in Japan,’’ The North American

Review, 688.

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THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Women at work on looms. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

A skirt in the process of manufacture. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

New York Foundling Asylum. Sister Irene and her flock, New York

City, ca. 1890. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

Garbage in the streets, tenement area, New York City. Courtesy of

Library of Congress.