Japanese industrial villages and a reformist factory owner

Abstract

Magosaburo Ohara (1880–1943), owner of the Kurashiki Boseki Co. Ltd. was the only reformist among Japanese factory owners in pre‐war days and planned to construct ‘Shokko Mura’ (industrial village) in Kurashiki City. He could not, however, complete this ‘Shokko Mura’ plan in the face of severe competition from other Japanese spinning companies. The achievement of his ‘industrial village’ idea thus fell far short of that of his foreign counterparts. However, three ‘socialistic’ institutes which he founded for basic research on his social reform activities have made an important contribution to the improvement of labour problems in Japan.