ABSTRACT
Japan has a long history of textile production, and the forms and nature of textile production have undergone major changes over the years since 1650. In order best to comprehend the consequent changes in the nature of textile work and textile workers, this chapter will be divided into three chronological sections: the years from the seventeenth century up until the 1850s, characterized by pre-industrial and proto-industrial forms of production; the period from the 1850s up to 1937, marked by Japan's increasing integration into the international economy, accompanied by the growth of capitalist factory production and successful international competition; and the years 1937-2000, which were marked firstly by a shift of resources out of textile production for war-related reasons, followed by recovery and the relative decline of the significance of textile production in the Japanese economy, and in Japan's international trade.
