Research projects

The purpose of this project is to clarify the characteristic of the economic development of East Asia in the world history. We carried out the comparative study of East Asia from four viewpoints of "formation of modernistic large-scale industry", "formation and strengthening of a nation-state", "correspondence to the market economy by a peasant folk", and "the joint form of each country and the world economy." The result of research is as follows. The loose economic growth was progressing in contrast with the rapid high economic growth in the first half of the 20th century of the East Asia area. Between the loose growth of the first half in the 20th century, and the high growth of the second half, the direct reorganization policy of the industry and resources by the government of each country was implemented powerfully. Such reorganization of East Asia economy was not forced with foreign pressure, but a result of active selection according to the people of each country.

Main result is three points of the following. (1) Holding of a panel discussion "Activity of Japanese Corporations in China, the Interwar and World War II period-An case study of Naigaiwata Co.,Ltd" in the 78th Socio-Economic History Society national convention (September 27, 2009), and a symposium of "Activity of Japanese Corporations in China, the Interwar and World War II period "(September 28, 2009, at Tokyo University Institute of Social Science). (2) Publication of "Japanese-company which lived in modern China." Edited by Tomizawa Yoshia, Kubo Toru, Hagiwara Mitsuru. (3) Transcription of the interviews to the persons concerned of the Japanese spinning company in China.

This study examined China's fiscal system during the planned economy era from 1949 to 1978, paying particular attention to the fiscal transfer between central and local government and the fiscal structure of each local area's public finances. It revealed the central government's control over local public finances via the fiscal transfer policy, and moreover indicated both the general tendencies and local peculiarities of historical changes in local fiscal revenue and expenditure structures.

This study examined the relationships between local government and public enterprise in China during the planned economy era from 1949 to 1978, paying particular attention to the difference in the regional and administrative divisions (e.g. provincial level and country level) from a comparative perspective. It revealed both the general tendencies and local peculiarities of the relationships between local government and public enterprise, and moreover explored the function of capital distribution system at local level which linked the two into closer relations with each other.

This study explored the long-term development of Chinese modern enterprises covering the Republican period(1912-1949), the Planned Economy period(1949-1978) and the Reform period(1978-) by comparative analysis on some cases of enterprise in several industries, for example textile industry and machinery industry. The analysis revealed the continuity and discontinuity between each time period and the influence of the implementation of the socialist economic system in the planned economy period on the development of Chinese enterprises by industrial sectors.

The purpose of this research is to investigate how legal forms of business, such as corporations or partnerships, are developed and how they influence the development of economy and society. In order to tackle this purpose, we examined the process s of the development of four Asian countries, that is, Japan, China, Vietnam and Korea. From our empirical study, we found that, in Japan, the corporate form was used mainly by big business and the partnership and limited partnership forms were used by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), but the use of latter two forms became less popular before World War II. After WWII, SMEs started to use the corporate form to gain the credibility after World War II. Moreover, we also found that the change of the legal forms from the partnership and limited partnership forms to the corporate form was also seen in Korea. We also tried to construct the general model of the development of legal business forms based on our empirical study.

This study focuses on the formation of China’s external financial system under the complex international environment of the Cold War, marked by U.S.-China confrontation and deteriorating Sino-Soviet relations. While previous research has tended to emphasize changes in diplomatic strategies and political regimes, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of financial practices, such as barter trade in the 1950s, overseas remittances from the Chinese diaspora, and the management and operation of foreign currency, in shaping the institutional structure. This study aims to reintegrate the fragmented insights accumulated across diplomatic history, political history, economic history, and overseas Chinese studies from the perspective of China’s financial history. By taking China’s practical responses to trade embargoes as a starting point, the research seeks to elucidate the formation and transformation of its external financial regime.

In order to develop the study of modern Chinese history and the People's Republic of China, We studied the mode of the penetration of Communist Party power into society. We also examined the reactions and responses of social groups to Party power. Our study also drew attention to the new contradictions that arose in the process of the penetration of Party power into society. This highlighted the causal relationship with political and social problems that emerged from the late 1950s onwards.