Industrial development in the daimyo domain and economic modernization of Japan - With special references to the Awa indigo industry in the province of Awa-Tokushima from the Tokugawa period to the Meiji period

This paper aims to clarify how pre-conditions to economic development in mo dem Japan had been prepared. Specifically speaking, it takes as an example the case of the Awa indigo industry and explores how the development of thi s industry contributed to the economic modernization in Tokushima prefectur e. The Awa indigo industry enjoyed rapid progress and development in the To kugawa period. It is undeniable the accumulated capital in the late Tokugaw a period contributed as a cornerstone to the economic modernization in Meij i Tokushima prefecture. This paper also mentions the influence of imported indigo on the Awa indigo industry after the opening of Japan to foreign tra de. The Awa indigo industry seems to have suffered from the expanding inflo w of foreign indigo. The stagnancy of the Awa indigo industry in the middle of Meiji period must have restrained modern industrial development in Toku shima prefecture. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.