الوصف: |
The purpose of this paper is to clarify that mechanization in the local textile industry was promoted by the Aichi Prefecture Commercial Museum (ACM), between 1911 and 1920. As of 1911, 36 commercial museums had been established by reusing the pavilions of prefectural expositions held in the Meiji era (1868-1912), aiming to promote the sales of each regionʼs principal products. ACM was one of three major commercial museums along with those in Osaka and Tokyo. Dr. Takuya Miyake has pointed out that ACM was characteristic for having a machine section with a working power loom. Miyake also shows that the machine section was realized by the Director Takao Yamaguchiʼs leadership, and that this section aroused interest among many textile factory managers. We analyzed the motorization of Aichiʼs small textile factories by using data on not imported but domestic cotton and silk from 1910 to 1919, approximately coincident with ACMʼs activity period, in three major textile regions: Nagoya City and its eastern and northern environs (Region 1), the northern and western Owari region (Region 2) and the Chita peninsula region (Region 3). Our statistical research shows the following: First, handlooms were broadly accepted in Region1 and Region 2, while oil-engined power looms were already accepted in Region 3. This aspect of region 3 is shown by the fact that Chita cotton was woven on power looms in 1910, just one year before ACM opened. Second, electrification spread rapidly in Region 1 and Region 2 during our ten year period. On the other hand, oil-engines had been gradually replaced by gas-engines and motors in Region 3. Third, small textile companies (those employing less than 30 workers) in all regions vigorously adopted cheap motor-powered looms made by domestic loom manufacturers, including Toyoda-type Loom Corporation, because of their low initial and running costs. Finally, cast-iron power looms enabled firms to produce not only narrow cloths for Japanese kimonos but also broad cloths for European dress. This was because the looms were rugged. Consequently, textile exports increased during our ten year period. In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that Director Yamaguchi deeply analyzed regional issues and created the machine section of ACM. The machine part encouraged the textile factory managers to use motor-powered looms, and thus ACM greatly contributed to the shift from handicraft to factory-based industry in the Aichi textile industry in the 1910s. Accordingly, ACM should be recognized as a ground-breaking industrial museum in Japan. |