Recruitment of Cotton Spinning Industry in the Meiji Era: An Approach from Visual Sources

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18566
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Economics, Business Administration, and related fields
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Hirano Kyohei 神戸大学, 経営学研究科, 准教授 (10509847)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 経済史 / 経営史 / 画像史料 / 視覚メディア / 写真 / 絵葉書 / 綿紡績業 / 労働者募集

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Concentrating on the analysis of visual sources such as albums, company pamphlets, recruitment guide, and picture postcards, this research aims to illuminate how the visual media, used in the recruitment of cotton spinning industry in Meiji period, removes the uncertainty and distrust that occur in workers and rural society caused by the outside recruiter, and contributes to building the relationship of trust between the companies and the worker / rural society. Japanese economic history and business history rarely use the visual resources, however, this research will show the possibility of visual resources in Japanese economic history and business history by collecting, investigating, and analyzing kinds of visual resources.

Free Research Field

日本経済史・日本経営史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では，明治期の綿紡績業での労働者募集をめぐる視覚メディアの利用によって，募集人が介在することで生じていた労働者・農村社会が抱える不安や不信を取り払い，企業と労働者・農村社会との間に信頼関係を構築しようとした挑戦的な試みがあったことを明らかにした。画像史料の調査・分析を中心に据えた本研究は，画像史料のもつ「ことば」や「イメージ」を丁寧に読み取り，新しい視角や論点の提示に努めようとしたことに学術的な意義があると考える。