The Development and Limit of the Natural Fiber Substitution in the Wool Industry

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25780215
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Economic history
• 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): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 経済史 / 経営史 / 羊毛工業 / 化学繊維 / 代用繊維 / 資源代替

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Wool, as well as silk, was one of the biggest targets for chemical fibers to replace natural ones. However, the conventional research have been limited to the rayon and cotton spinning companies and put aside the operations of wool textile companies. On the contrary, the research takes up the case of Nippon Keori (Japan Wool Textile Co., Ltd.), a leading Japanese wool textile company, to illuminate the production of chemical fibers, the development of substitute fibers and the response to synthetic fibers by the wool textile companies from the interwar to postwar period from the viewpoint of replacing natural fibers with chemical ones. In addition, the representative of the research made a catalogue in order to make the archives of Nippon Keori available to other researchers.

Free Research Field

日本経済史・日本経営史