Wax Manufacturing in Kumamoto-Han

NOGUCHI KIKUO

doi:10.20624/sehs.38.3_272

Bibliographic Information

Other Title

熊本藩における藩営製蝋業
クマモトハンニオケルハンエイセイロウギョウ

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Description

Wax was one of the special products in the western part of Japan, and wax manufacturing increased rapidly after the first the part of the 18th century. Under the difficult financial condition, the feudal lords of the area tried to increase their income by promoting the production of wax from the wax tree. Kumamoto-Han began to take part in the production of wax, and established a wax manufacturing plant. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Han government not only monopolized the production of wax, but also controlled the production and marketing of the raw material. In spite of the backward technology employed at the Han-sponsored wax industry, it could earn large profits because of its monopoly of raw material and labor. Labor was provided by the full-time laborer who had been pushed out of villages as a result of agricultural dislocation in the late 18th century. The technology could flow more freely compared with that of craftmen. Most of the monopoly systems adopted by the Han governments in western Japan obtained profits by controlling the marketing process, not by going into production. It has been commonly held that wax manufacturing of Kumamoto-Han was one of the above type. When, however, one examines the wax industry closely, one finds that the Kumamoto system was different from the ordinary Han monopoly or mining operations by feudal lords. It was a Hen enterprise which controlled production in order to maxmize the profit.

Journal

SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY

SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY 38 (3), 272-290,354-35, 1972

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY SOCIETY