Earthquake Reconstruction from Private Enterprises: Re-reading the Great Kanto Earthquake from an Economic Perspective

2023/11/08

The Great Kanto Earthquake of 100 years ago has been discussed in various ways, but many books and papers in the humanities and social sciences focus on the damage in Tokyo and Yokohama, the short-term impact on the Japanese economy, the reconstruction of the imperial capital centered on Home Minister Shinpei Goto's capital reconstruction plan and the political maneuvering surrounding it, and the massacres of Koreans and anarchists caused by rumors. What has been missing from research to date are the perspectives and activities of business leaders, corporations, and the business community, who are the drivers of economic activity.

Therefore, in this book, I first introduce the little-known theories on relocating the capital immediately after the earthquake, particularly the plan by Major Hitoshi Imamura of the Army's core leadership, and then provide a detailed analysis of the activities of the domestic and international business communities (business leaders and corporations). In other words, I sought to clarify, based on domestic and international materials, what kind of reconstruction visions the "private sector"—the business leaders, corporations, and the business community who drive economic activity—held in response to the Great Earthquake, and how they negotiated with the "public sector" (national and local governments) to realize them. To what extent were their visions realized? What impact did they have on Japanese society, which aimed for modernization, and the international community surrounding Japan? At the same time, how did Japanese regions outside the disaster areas and the global business community react to the earthquake?

What I found interesting during my research at public libraries across the country were the articles in local newspapers such as the Akita Sakigake Shimpo, Kahoku Shimpo, Kobe Yushin Nippo, and Kanmon Nichinichi Shimbun. First, I was surprised by the swift and proactive support activities of the business community, centered on the Chambers of Commerce. Next, I gained a clear understanding of the differences in how the earthquake was perceived in each region. The business communities in Osaka, Kobe, and other areas west of Kansai believed that Osaka would become the center of the Japanese economy after the earthquake, and they strongly demanded the development of transportation networks (railways and shipping) that would directly connect the Tohoku region with the western Japan economic zone without passing through Tokyo or Yokohama. Furthermore, the "company histories" of various corporations contained vivid and powerful episodes filled with both joy and sorrow.

Analyzing the reconstruction process of the Great Kanto Earthquake from such a glocal and long-term perspective reveals that there was the potential for another modern history to emerge—one significant enough to redraw the economic map of the entire Japanese Empire, including its colonies, in the 1920s. This may also provide insights for measures against future anticipated disasters, such as an earthquake directly under the capital or a Nankai Trough earthquake.

Earthquake Reconstruction from Private Enterprises: Re-reading the Great Kanto Earthquake from an Economic Perspective

Masato Kimura

Chikuma Shinsho

320 pages, 1,100 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.