ABSTRACT

The belief that the role of the government is to make the world better and save the people has represented the Japanese (indeed, Eastern) tradition of strong government leadership in the economy for many centuries (Ikeo 1997: 39, 53). It is at the root of the Japanese term for “the subject of economic science,” namely, Keizai. In 1868, the new government began promoting the modernization of Japan and the collection of economic data to measure national power. It realized in the 1910s that the Japanese population was growing rapidly and the Malthusian problem was emerging. The first nationwide census (conducted in 1920) confirmed the fact. By the University Ordinance of 1919–20, economics departments were established in national universities, and the existing private higher schools that had economics departments were upgraded to universities. Thanks to the reform, both the quantity and quality of economic research in Japan were enhanced to cover such wide-ranging fields as the German historical school, neoclassical economics, and mathematical and statistical studies. The government especially needed statistical analyses of the demand for and the supply of rice, Japan’s staple food, in order to make a relevant policy for rice (including its importation) and for emigration for the near future. 2