THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STUDY OF THE ECONOMIC HISTORY OF JAPAN SUBSEQUENT TO THE MEIJI RESTORATION

Abstract

In the course of an article entitled the development of the study of economic history in Japan , published in this journal, vol. VII, No. 2, I dwelt at some length on the development of such studies since the Meiji Restoration. In the present article, I intend to discuss the same subject more fully from a different point of view. In a study of this kind, the citation of the titles of many books is really necessary, but as references of this kind may prove more annoying than helpful to some readers, I shall refrain from such mention as far as possible, confining myself to an analysis of the general course of development which the study of the economic history of Japan has taken. The study of the economic history of Japan has seen remarkable progress since the Meiji Restoration. Needless to say, the study of this subject is related to the development of political economy, on the one hand, and reflects the concrete developments of the economic world, on the other. The interval under review may roughly be divided into three periods. The first period extends from the Meiji Restoration to the Sino-Japanese War, the second from the termination of the Sino-Japanese War to the World War, and the third from 1919 or 1920 to 1936, or year preceding the outbreak of the China Affair. The first period. In the reforms which featured the Meiji Restoration, many old systems and theories were discarded and Western systems and forms of civilization were imported in their place. In consequence, widespread