Textile industry - Oral discharge industry

Japanese: 織物工業 - おりものこうぎょう

An industry that produces and processes fabrics using raw materials such as silk, spinning, and twisted yarn. It is a division of the spinning and weaving industry or the textile dyeing industry. Its representative products include silk fabrics, cotton fabrics, silk-cotton blend fabrics, linen fabrics, and woolen fabrics. From the Meiji period until World War II, it occupied an important position in Japan's industrial structure along with the spinning and silk-reeling industries, and made great inroads into overseas markets by realizing low prices through low wages.

[Kato Kozaburo]

Pre-World War II

As an indication of the characteristics of the period before World War II, in 1937 (Showa 12), 52.8% of the production value of textile products was semi-finished products and 47.2% was finished products. Finished products consisted of woven fabrics (36.9%) and other processed products, of which cotton fabrics accounted for 20%, followed by rayon and staphylococcus fabrics, woolen fabrics, and silk fabrics. In terms of the number of workers in the same year, of the total 1.12 million workers in the textile industry, the textile industry had the largest number of workers at 326,000, of which 130,000 were in silk fabrics, 77,000 in rayon and staphylococcus fabrics, and 75,000 in cotton fabrics. In terms of the number of factories employing 5 or more workers, of the 28,179 factories in the textile industry as a whole, 15,969 were textile-related factories, accounting for 56.7% of the total. In the textile industry, there were 5,657 rayon weaving factories, 5,317 cotton weaving factories, 3,773 silk weaving factories, 1,112 woolen weaving factories, and 100 hemp weaving factories. Furthermore, looking at the average number of workers per factory, compared to 112 in the silk reeling industry and 306 in the cotton spinning industry, there were only 19 workers for rayon weaving, 29 for cotton weaving, 20 for silk weaving, 33 for woolen weaving, and 54 for hemp weaving, and the fact that more than 95% of textile-related factories employed fewer than 100 people shows how small their scale was (the average for the textile industry was 40 people). Moreover, the number of looms in these factories was 87% for cotton weaving, 86.5% for silk weaving, 57.5% for woolen weaving, and 98.8% for hemp weaving. In terms of location, cotton textiles were concentrated in the Kinki and Tokai regions, silk textiles and rayon in the Hokuriku and Chubu regions, and wool textiles in the Tokai region. Excluding linen textiles, 96.2% of wool textiles, 77.3% of cotton textiles, and 51.1% of silk textiles were produced by power looms. However, the textile industry was labor-intensive and heavily relied on young, poorly educated female laborers from rural areas, and coupled with the rationalization of management, it showed a low-wage structure. Low prices based on such low wages led to a large expansion overseas, with cotton textile exports in particular centered on Southeast Asia and Africa, and silk textile exports, alternating with rayon, centered on Southeast Asia and Australia. The start of the Sino-Japanese War brought about changes in overseas markets and trade structures, and furthermore, the strengthening of exchange control and the enforcement of corporate controls severely affected the entire textile industry as an export industry that was mainly dependent on overseas raw materials.

[Kato Kozaburo]

After World War II

At the end of the Second World War, the production of the textile industry had fallen to an extremely low level, about one-fifteenth of the prewar level, but at the same time, it was the sector most expected to recover from the postwar economic recovery, and was naturally essential to the national economy and people's lives after the war. Therefore, although imports of raw cotton from the United States were resumed immediately after the war, the recovery process aimed at restoring facilities was slow. In addition, the development of the chemical fiber sector further intensified competition with natural fibers such as wool and cotton, and with the development of blending technology with chemical synthetic fibers, the labor force, wages, and production scale within the textile industry changed significantly compared to the prewar period. Furthermore, the export structure, represented by cotton cloth, was conversely greatly restricted by the development of the spinning and weaving industries in Asian countries, including Korea. Furthermore, in 1955, of the 2.89 million looms in the world, Europe accounted for 55% and Asia for 24%, but in 1985, of the 2.72 million looms, Europe had dropped to 20%, while Asia accounted for 57%, and by 1998, of the 2.23 million looms, Europe accounted for 15% and Asia for 65%. For example, among Asian countries, China saw a dramatic increase from 85,000 in 1955 to 730,000 in 1998, South Korea also saw an increase from 6,000 to 32,000, Pakistan from 19,000 to 22,000, and Thailand from 1,000 to 140,000. Japan's textile production peaked at 397,000 units in 1965, but fell to 73,000 units by 1998. As the textile industries of Asian countries increased their self-sufficiency and transformed into export industries, Japan was hit hard by the increase in imports from other Asian countries, and by the end of the 1990s it was forced into a serious situation where it was forced to request the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) to impose a "textile safeguard" (emergency import restrictions).

[Kato Kozaburo]

"History of the Japanese Machinery Industry" by Sanpei Takako (1961, Yuzankaku Publishing) ▽ "Postwar History of Spinning" edited by Tawa Yasuo (1962, Japan Spinners' Association) ▽ "Continued Postwar History of Spinning" edited by Arita Enji (1979, Japan Spinners' Association) ▽ "Modern Japan's Industrial Structure" edited by Miwa Yoshiro (1991, Aoki Shoten) ▽ "Textile Handbook" edited by Japan Chemical Fibers Association, various editions (Japan Chemical Fibers Association Materials Distribution Association) ▽ "History of Cotton and Cotton Fabric" by Takebe Yoshito (1997, Ochanomizu Shobo) ▽ "Industrial Analysis of Structural Adjustment" by Tomizawa Osami (1998, Sofusha) ▽ "Reorganization of the International Division of Labor in Asia and the Role of Foreign Direct Investment" edited by Maruya Toyojiro (2000, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization) ▽ "Japan's Textile Industry: Why Has It Become So Weak?" edited by Hiroyuki Itami et al. (2001, NTT Publishing) " "International Division of Labor and Technology Transfer in East Asia: Focusing on the Automobile, Electrical, and Textile Industries" edited by Mitsuo Fujii (2001, Minerva Shobo)

[Reference] | Woolen textile industry | Textile industry | Cotton textile industry

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

製糸・紡糸・撚糸(ねんし)などを原材料として、布地を生産・加工する産業。紡織工業あるいは繊維染色工業の一部門を構成する。絹織物、綿織物、絹綿交織物、麻織物、毛織物などがその代表的な製品である。明治以降、第二次世界大戦までは、日本の産業構造のなかで、紡績業、製糸業とともに重要な位置を占め、低賃金による低価格の実現を通じて海外市場に大きく進出した。

［加藤幸三郎］

第二次世界大戦前

第二次世界大戦前における特徴を示すものとして、1937年（昭和12）の繊維製品の生産額の内容をみると、その52.8％が半製品であり、47.2％が完成品であった。完成品は織物（36.9％）とその他加工品よりなるが、その完成品のうち綿織物が20％で、人絹・スフ織物、毛織物、絹織物がこれに続いた。同じ37年の職工数についてみると、繊維工業全体で約112万余人のうち、織物業が32.6万人で最大を示し、そのうち絹織物に13万人、人絹・スフ織物に7万7000人、綿織物に7万5000人という状況を示し、使用職工5人以上の工場数でみると、繊維工業全体で2万8179工場のうち、織物業関係工場が1万5969工場で全体の56.7％を占めた。織物業の内訳では、人絹織物が5657工場、綿織物が5317工場、絹織物が3773工場、毛織物が1112工場、麻織物が100工場などが存在していた。さらに1工場当りの平均職工数をみると、製糸業で112人、綿糸紡績業で306人に対して、人絹織物がわずかに19人、綿織物が29人、絹織物20人、毛織物33人、麻織物54人であり、織物業関係工場は共通して95％以上が100人未満の工場であることからも、その規模の零細性がうかがえよう（繊維工業の平均は40人）。しかもそこでの織機台数も、10台未満の工場数が綿織物で87％、絹織物で86.5％、毛織物で57.5％、麻織物では98.8％を示す。またその立地条件も、綿織物が近畿・東海地区に、絹織物・人絹が北陸・中部地区に、毛織物は東海地区に集中していたのである。また、麻織物を除けば、毛織物で96.2％、綿織物で77.3％、絹織物で51.1％を力織機生産に依存していた。しかし、織物業は労働集約的であり、農村出身の若い教育水準の低い女子労働力に大きく依存していたこと、さらに経営の合理化とも相まって低賃金構造を示していた。このような低賃金に基づく低価格によって海外に大きく進出し、とくに綿織物輸出は東南アジア、アフリカを中心とし、絹織物輸出は、人絹と交替しながら東南アジア、オーストラリアを中心としていた。日中戦争が始まって海外市場や貿易構造に変化が生まれ、さらに、為替(かわせ)管理の強化や、企業統制が強行されると、原料をおもに海外に依存していた輸出産業としての繊維工業全体が深刻な影響を受けた。

［加藤幸三郎］

第二次世界大戦後

第二次世界大戦終戦時、繊維工業の生産は、ほぼ戦前水準の15分の1以下という極度の低水準に落ち込んだが、同時に戦後の経済復興のなかでもっとも期待された部門でもあり、当然に戦後の国民経済、国民生活に必須(ひっす)な部門であった。それゆえ戦後ただちにアメリカからの原綿輸入が再開されたのであるが、設備復元を目ざした回復過程の歩みは遅々たるものであった。加えて化繊部門の進展により、羊毛・綿といった天然繊維との競合が一段と強まり、また化合繊との混紡技術の発展もあって、織物工業内部における労働力・賃金・生産規模も戦前と比べて大きく変化していった。さらに、綿布に代表された輸出構造も、逆に、韓国をはじめとするアジア諸国における紡織工業の進展で大きく制約されるようになった。さらに1955年、世界の織機289万台のうち、ヨーロッパが55％を占め、アジアが24％という状態にあったものが、1985年には272万台のうち、ヨーロッパが20％と大幅に減少したのに対し、アジアでは57％が集中するという状態に、さらに1998年では223万台のうちヨーロッパが15％、アジアでは65％という状態に変化する。たとえば、アジア諸国のうち、中国では55年の8.5万台から98年には73万台へ激増、韓国も0.6万台から3.2万台へ、パキスタンが1.9万台から2.2万台へ、タイは0.1万台から14万台へと増加している。日本は1965年の39.7万台を最高に98年には7.3万台へと減少し、アジア諸国の織物工業が自給率を高め、輸出産業へと転成するにつれて、日本はアジア諸国からの輸入増大に大打撃を受け、1990年代末には「繊維セーフガード」（緊急輸入制限）の発動を通商産業省（現経済産業省）に要請せざるをえない深刻な状態に追い込まれている。

［加藤幸三郎］

『三瓶孝子著『日本機業史』（1961・雄山閣出版）』▽『田和安夫編『戦後紡績史』（1962・日本紡績協会）』▽『有田圓二編『続戦後紡績史』（1979・日本紡績協会）』▽『三輪芳郎編『現代日本の産業構造』（1991・青木書店）』▽『日本化学繊維協会編『繊維ハンドブック』各年版（日本化学繊維協会資料頒布会）』▽『武部善人著『綿と木綿の歴史』（1997・御茶の水書房）』▽『富沢修身著『構造調整の産業分析』（1998・創風社）』▽『丸屋豊二郎編『アジア国際分業再編と外国直接投資の役割』（2000・日本貿易振興会アジア経済研究所）』▽『伊丹敬之他編著『日本の繊維産業――なぜ、これほど弱くなってしまったのか』（2001・NTT出版）』▽『藤井光男編著『東アジアにおける国際分業と技術移転――自動車・電機・繊維産業を中心として』（2001・ミネルヴァ書房）』