2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Trading Locomotives: The Development of Japan's Railway Industry and International Environment
| Project/Area Number |
23530406
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
Economic history
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| Research Institution | The University of Tokyo |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011-04-28 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | 明治日本 / 鉄道業 / 機関車貿易 / 第一次グローバル化 / 国際競争 / 欧米機関車メーカー / 日本商社 / 機械技術者 |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
This research project reconsiders the influence of the first globalization at the turn of the twentieth century on the development of the railway industry in Meiji Japan. We show that Japanese railways could purchase high-quality locomotives with short delivery dates and low prices due to competition between British, American, and German locomotive makers with trading companies. This was one of the factors behind the high growth of railway industry during the Meiji era. In addition, designing and ordering locomotives during this period was supported by Japanese mechanical engineers who learned engineering theories through coursework at domestic institutions of higher education and acquired skills by performing reverse engineering at railway factories. As a result, the independence of the Japanese railway industry was completed before the First World War.
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| Free Research Field |
経済史
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