The Japanese experience in technologyThis is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu
The Japanese experience in technology
Takeshi Hayashi
From transfer to self-reliance
The Japanese Experience Series
The Role of Labour-Intensive Sectors in Japanese Industrialization
Edited by Johzen Takeuchi
This study of the general development of industrialization in pre-war Japan, with special reference to the place of small-scale and labour-intensive industries highlights a unique aspect of the history of Japan's economic growth. It presents case-studies of the shell-button, brush, knitting, and bicycle industries, examining the development of each. It looks at the social role of each in the internal and international economic and political context and analyses the changing relationships between labourers, factory owners, and merchants.
HSDB-16/UNUP-512
ISBN 92-808-0512-6
In press, 15.7x23.3cm, hardcover
General Trading Companies: A Comparative and Historical Study
Edited by Shin'ichi Yonekawa
This comprehensive study examines the historical background and functions of general trading companies in relation to the broader economic development of Japan, comparing them to similar trading firms in Great Britain and the United States and reviewing aspects of management, merchandise, and reorganization of the zaibatsu in the 1950s. It identifies the social and economic roles they played and emphasizes their core function as financial organizers in society.
HSDB-21/UNUP-532
ISBN 92-808-0532-0
In press, 15.7x23.3cm, hardcover
Vocational Education in the Industrialization of Japan
Edited by Toshio Toyoda
This volume examines the role of vocational education in Japan's industrial and technological growth and possible applications for developing countries. The book describes the establishment of vocational and apprentice schools; presents case-studies of schools in woodwork, lacquerware, ceramics, machinery, dyeing and weaving, bamboo working, commerce, agriculture and forestry; examines in-house training; and finally, surveys education from the Meiji period to the present, focusing particularly on engineering and industrial education in the post-war period.
HSDB-1/10/UNUP-584
ISBN 92-808-0584-3
1987, 280 pages, 15.7x23.3cm, hardcover
Industrial Pollution in Japan
Edited by Jun Ui
This publication describes and analyses the negative side-effects of Japan's rapid technological and industrial development since the Meiji period. It examines the socio-economic and technological causes of damage to the lives of people, to the communities involved, and to the environment through case-studies of several examples of industrial pollution in the process of Japan's modernization.
HSDB-24/UNUP-548
ISBN 92-808-0548-7
In press, 15.7x23.3cm, hardcover
Jacket design by Takashi Suzuki
Technology Transfer, Transformation, and Development:
The Japanese Experience
Project Co-ordinator, Takeshi Hayashi
General Trading Companies: A Comparative and Historical Study, ed. Shin'ichi Yonekawa
Industrial Pollution in Japan, ed. Jun Ui
Irrigation in Development: The Social Structure of Water Utilization in Japan, ed. Akira Tamaki, Isao Hatate, and Naraomi Imamura
Role of Labour-Intensive Sectors in Japanese Industrialization, ed. Johzen Takeuchi
Technological Innovation and Female Labour in Japan, ed. Masanori Nakamura
The Japanese Experience in Technology: From Transfer to Self-Reliance, Takeshi Hayashi
Vocational Education in the Industrialization of Japan, ed. Toshio Toyoda
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| The United Nations University project on Technology
Transfer, Transformation, and Development: The Japanese
Experience was carried out from 1978 to 1982. Its
objective was to contribute to an understanding of the
process of technological development in Japan as a case
study. The project inquired into the infrastructure of
technology. human resources development, and social and
economic conditions and analyzed the problems of
technology transfer, transformation, and development from
the time of the Meiji Restoration to the present. The
research was undertaken by more than 120 Japanese
specialists and covered a wide range of subjects,
including iron and steel, transportation, textiles,
mining, financial institutions, rural and urban society,
small industry, the female labour force, education, and
technology policy. This volume constitutes a broad overview of the interaction between technology and development in Japan since the Meiji period. |
© The United Nations University, 1990
The views expressed in this publication ate those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations University.
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HSDB-36/UNUP-566
ISBN 92-808-0566-5
United Nations Sales No. E.90.III.A.4
04500 C
1. Development and technology in post-war Japan
Japan in the world
Economy and technology in post-war Japan
Post-war recovery
From recovery to rapid growth
Technology transfer in post-war Japan2. The Japanese experience: The problems and attempted solutions
1: Expectations from outside
2: Japan's response
3: Why do we begin with the Meiji restoration?3. Theoretical summary: A preliminary examination and an interim conclusion
4. The importance of case-studies
5. Urban society and technology
The city and technology
The primate city
The inhabitants of Tokyo
Formation of the new middle class
Urban life
A provincial city case-study: Traditional technology in Kanazawa6. Agricultural technology and development
Development and agriculture
The change in agricultural technology, from emphasis on land productivity to emphasis on labour productivity7. Transfer and self-reliance in iron and steel technology
Pre-conditions
Failure and recovery of the Kamaishi ironworks
Failure at the Yawata ironworks
Technological independence and dependence on foreign raw materials
Formation of a skilled labour force
Iron manufacturing technology and weapons self-reliance8. Transfer of mining technology and the birth of new technology
Industrialization and mining technology
New technology and reform of the system
From importation to domestic production of mining machinery: Independence in the related sectors of technology9. Traffic and transport technology-road, railway, and water-borne transportation
Modernization and the railway
The transportation network
Issues in railway policy
Original design and production by imitation - The road to self-reliance
The role of foreign engineers10. Technology for the textile industry
The textile industry's place in the history of Japanese technology
The role of government
How Japan was able to catch up with India - A subject for dialogue11. The transformation of small-scale industry into modern indigenous industry
Small-scale industries in development
The village button industry
The transformation of technology in the process of industrialization12. Vocational education and development
Japanese modernization and education - Take-off and fall
Vocational education and the normal school system
Late-comer investment in education
On site training13. The development of Japanese-style management
The Japanese approach
Economic nationalism
The impotence of the political parties
The transformation of the zaibatsu
Japanese-style management today
History of Japanese-style management
Japanese-style management and managers of zaibatsu
Zaibatsu managers and the reference group
Local zaibatsu and new zaibatsu14. Development of Japan's financial system
Development and finance
Exchange companies
From a national bank to the bank of Japan15. General trading companies: Their role in technology transfer and industrialization
Origins and functions of general trading companies
Is the general trading company peculiar to Japan?
16. Industry and economic policies - Politics and the economy in a new nation
The effect of economic policies
Two opposing lines, radical and conservative
Local development17. History of technology and technology policy
Politics and modern science and technology
Technology policy for development
Addendum18. Female labour and technology change
Total household labour and the "wife's domain"
Technological change and female labour
Addendum19. Industrial technology and pollution
"Development" and the destruction of the environment
The question of diagnosis
The prototype of the present-day pollution problem
Medical myths
20. Conclusion: A proposal for future research
The role of the state
National consensus and basic human rights
Formation of a national technology network
Formation of native engineers
Public management of technology