| Research Abstract |
We have worked on the experience of Japan's economic development since Taisho-era and explored to compare it with the problems of contemporary socio-economic development. We have investigated the rural economic basis and its limit of Taiso-Democracy, the transformation of rural economy from the inter-wars period to the war times, the post-war democratic reform, and their socio-economic impact on the national economy by the change of rural economy. We have explored to compare the Japan's experience with the problems of low-developed countries and to make clear the rural economic basis for the democracy.
We have organized three successful conference : first one on February 12,1994, second one on February 18,1995, and third one on June 8,1996. The main topics of the first one were : the income distribution of pre-war rural Japan, the labor mobility and farmers' culture, the economic development and agricultural surplus--East Aisan case, the landlords investment in securities 1880-1930, the post-war agrarian reform, the transformation towards post-war rural society. The main topics of the second one were : the administrative and financial structure of local governments during Taisho-Democracy, the largecity finance between the wars, the agricultural bureaucrat Kodaira and his report on peasants disputes, the pre-war farm family and its second and third sons problems, the farm family/labor supply and demography. For the third onewe rather shifted our emphasis towards the politics and political history, whose outcome will be published as "Breakdown and Regeneration of Democracy : Interdisciplinary Approach" together with our four-years research.
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