Local Industry - Jibasangyo

Japanese: 地場産業 - じばさんぎょう

In a broad sense, the term is sometimes used to mean local industries, but generally it refers to things that are close to the local production industries defined in the White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises.

Attributes

Local/producing industries can be divided into traditional local industries (also called indigenous industries, including textiles, pottery, washi paper, lacquerware, Japanese chests, etc.) whose formation dates back to the Edo period or earlier, and modern local industries (such as knitwear, towels, matches, Western-style umbrellas, toys, bicycles, and tiles, which were transplanted in the Meiji and Taisho periods). All of these are characterized by the concentration of small and medium-sized enterprises in specific regions, the establishment of a social division of labor specific to the region in terms of production and sales, and the production of "specialty" consumer goods unique to the region that have secured sales markets nationwide and around the world. Of these, traditional local industries, which account for about 40% of all producing regions, are designated as target areas of the Traditional Crafts Industries Promotion Act (enacted in 1974).

[Shinichi Tonomura and Michiyo Kasumi]

Developments since the Meiji Period

The reasons why Japan's local industries have expanded more widely since the Meiji period than those in Europe and the United States include the fact that the production of a wide variety of daily necessities had already progressed by the end of the Edo period, that there was a wide variety of raw materials available locally to support this, and that there was an abundant labor force, but the biggest reason above all is that electricity was put to practical use in Japan at an early stage of industrialization, and Japanese-style small machines and simple tools suited to local assets and technology became widespread, resulting in the emergence of small factories. This led to the modernization of traditional industries (for example, the spread of small looms) and the indigenization of transplanted industries (for example, the spread of small polishing machines used to manufacture metal Western-style tableware), and local industries that included small capital or side jobs on farms in a regional division of labor system expanded more widely than in Europe and the United States as small-variety, small-lot production that did not require economies of scale from the start. The abundant low-wage labor force gave the country international competitiveness, and many of the local industries developed into export industries, playing an important role in earning foreign currency both before and after the war (local industries with an export ratio of more than 20% of their products are called export-oriented local industries).

All of the local industries are highly labor-intensive in nature and have contributed to maintaining and expanding local employment, but because many of them are small businesses, in order to secure domestic and international sales channels, they have historically relied heavily on local wholesalers (commercial capital) in the form of wholesale-based cottage industries, cottage labor, wholesale-based factory-based handicraft industries, wholesale-based factory industries, etc., particularly in textiles, knitted products, miscellaneous goods, woodwork, machinery and equipment, and metal products. This extended to funding, raw material procurement, information gathering, and product design and development. However, the strength of local industries lies in the fact that they have responded to drastic changes in the economic environment by making bold changes throughout the production area. The business transformation of local industries, such as Gyoda city, which switched from tabi socks to clothing, Kawaguchi city, which switched from castings to industrial machine parts, Aizuwakamatsu city, which switched from wooden lacquerware to plastic lacquerware, and Mashiko town in Tochigi prefecture, which switched from everyday pottery to craft products, are all an extension of traditional technologies.

[Shinichi Tonomura and Michiyo Kasumi]

Issues after the period of rapid growth

The rapid growth of the Japanese economy has had a major impact on local industries, forcing them to make new changes. The collapse of the low-wage base due to labor shortages, the lack of successors in traditional industries, the emergence of new materials, changes in consumption patterns, and the catching up of newly industrializing countries in overseas markets have all significantly shaken the management foundations of local industries. The transition to an era of low growth since the oil crisis has also posed new challenges for local industries.

According to a survey of 526 production areas nationwide by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, local/local production industries accounted for approximately 27% of small and medium-sized manufacturing establishments, 14% of employees, and 14% of production value (White Paper on Small and Medium Enterprises, 1985 edition), but these local industries were faced with two new challenges. One of them was the need to transform into developed-country-style local industries in response to changes in the domestic demand structure, technological innovation, the advancement of information technology, and changes in the export environment (declining international competitiveness). To achieve this, it was necessary to (1) secure human resources for technology and design development, (2) promote the automation and labor-saving of production processes and quality and production management, and (3) move away from local wholesalers, i.e., to sell, develop, and collect information in-house, with the aim of upgrading products and developing high-added value and new products (diversification, individualization, and fashion).

Another issue was to promote knowledge-intensive "regional industries" linked to cutting-edge industries in order to expand the economic foundations of the "era of the regions" (proposed by Kanagawa Governor Nagasu Kazuji in 1978) in place of the materials industries (especially the large polluting corporations) which had shifted to a period of low growth. The "village and town revitalization" movement, which began in the mid-1950s and gained momentum nationwide after Oita Governor Hiramatsu Morihiko proposed the "One Village, One Product Movement" in 1979, led the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) to launch the Regional Small Business Revitalization Promotion Project in April 1984.

[Shinichi Tonomura]

Following the Plaza Accord in 1985, the yen continued to appreciate, and many traditional local industries that produced consumer goods were replaced by imported goods and fell into decline. In 1986, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry enacted the Law on Temporary Measures for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Specified Areas, designating areas that had been heavily affected by the high yen and recession and encouraging business conversion. After the collapse of the bubble economy in the 1990s, the Law on Temporary Measures for Revitalization of Specified Small and Medium-sized Enterprise Clusters (Cluster Revitalization Law) was enacted in 1992 (Heisei 4) to further respond to and revitalize the structural changes in small and medium-sized enterprise clusters, encouraging local small and medium-sized enterprises to improve the efficiency of their operations and advance into new fields. In 1997, the Law on Temporary Measures for Revitalization of Specified Industrial Clusters was enacted to include not only traditional local industries but also clusters of basic technologies that support "manufacturing," and the system was transformed into one that supports "manufacturing" more broadly.

Since the 2000s, in the face of a long-term recession and shrinking domestic demand due to a declining birthrate and aging population, the direction of local industry promotion has shifted from business transformation to digging up demand, developing sales channels, and promoting exports. In 2004, the "JAPAN Brand Development Support Project" was established to support local small and medium-sized enterprises working together to strengthen and develop the brand power of local products. This project developed further, and in 2006 it was enacted into law as the "Law for the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises' Utilization of Regional Resources," becoming a system that provides wide-ranging support for new product development and sales channel development that utilizes regional resources. The number of projects adopted under the JAPAN Brand Support Project reached 278 between fiscal 2004 and 2008.

[Tomoyo Kasumi]

"The Concept of a Local Industry City" by Mitsuru Yamazaki (1981, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha)" ▽ "The Challenge of Regional Independence" by Tadao Kiyonari (1981, Toyo Keizai Shinposha)" ▽ "The Challenge of the 'Local' Regions" (1983), edited and published by Nihon Keizai Shimbun Inc. ▽ "Challenging Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" by Shuichiro Nakamura (Iwanami Shinsho)

[Reference items] | Traditional industries | Regional brands | Small and medium-sized enterprises | Micro-enterprises

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

広義には地方産業の意味で使用されることもあるが、一般には『中小企業白書』でいう産地産業に近いものをさして地場産業とよんでいる。

特質

地場・産地産業は、産地形成が江戸時代あるいはそれ以前にさかのぼる伝統型地場産業（在来産業ともよばれ、織物、陶器、和紙、漆器、和箪笥(だんす)などが含まれる）と、近代型地場産業（明治・大正期に移植されたメリヤス〈ニット〉、タオル、マッチ、洋傘、玩具(がんぐ)、自転車、タイルなど）に分けられる。いずれも、特定地域に中小零細企業が集中立地しており、生産・販売面で産地固有の社会的分業体制が確立していること、地域独特の「特産品」的消費財を生産し、全国ないし世界にその販売市場を確保していることがその特徴として指摘されている。このうち、全産地数の約4割を占める伝統型地場産業は、「伝統的工芸品産業振興法」（1974年施行）の対象地域とされている。

［殿村晋一・鹿住倫世］

明治以降の展開

日本の地場産業が明治以来、欧米に比べてより広範な展開をみせた理由は、すでに江戸末期までに多彩な日用品生産の進展がみられたこと、地場にそれを支える原料資源が多様に存在したこと、労働力が豊富であったことなどが考えられるが、なによりも最大の理由は、日本では電力が工業化の初期に実用化され、地場の資力と技術にあわせた日本型の小型機械や単純な道具機が普及し、小工場が簇生(そうせい)したことである。これによって、伝統産業の近代化（たとえば小型織機の普及）や移植産業の土着化（たとえば金属洋食器製造に用いる小型研磨機の普及）が進行し、小資本ないし農家副業を地域的な分業体系に内包する地場産業が、当初からスケール・メリットを必要としない多品種少量生産として欧米よりも広範に展開した。豊富な低賃金労働力がこれに国際競争力を付与し、地場産業の多くが輸出産業として発展し、戦前・戦後を通じて外貨獲得に重要な役割を演じた（製品の輸出比率が20％を超えるものを輸出型地場産業とよぶ）。

　地場産業は、いずれも労働集約的性格が強く、地元での雇用の維持・拡大に寄与したが、零細企業が多いことから、国内外への販路確保との関連から、とくに繊維、メリヤス製品、雑貨、木工品、機械器具、金属製品等を中心に、歴史的には、問屋制家内工業、家内労働、問屋制工場制手工業、問屋制工場工業等の形で産地問屋（商業資本）に大幅に依存した。それは、資金、原材料調達、情報収集、商品のデザイン開発にまで及んだ。しかし、地場産業の根強さは、経済環境の激しい変化に産地ぐるみで思いきった転換を行い、これに対応してきたことである。足袋(たび)から被服に転換した行田(ぎょうだ)市、鋳物から産業用機械部品に転換した川口市、木製漆器からプラスチック製漆器に転換した会津若松市、日用陶器から工芸製品に転換した栃木県益子(ましこ)町など、地場産業の事業転換は、いずれも在来技術の延長線に生まれているのである。

［殿村晋一・鹿住倫世］

高度成長期以後の課題

日本経済の高度成長は、地場産業に大きな影響を与え、また新たな転換を迫ることとなった。労働力不足に伴う低賃金基盤の崩壊と伝統産業における後継者難、新素材の出現、消費構造の変化、さらには海外市場での新興工業国の追い上げなどが、地場産業の経営基盤を大きく揺るがしているだけでなく、オイル・ショック以後の低成長時代への移行が地場産業に新たな課題を提起している。

　全国526の産地に関する中小企業庁の調査によれば、地場・産地産業は、中小製造業の事業所の約27％、従業者数の約14％、生産額の約14％を占めていた（『中小企業白書』昭和60年版）が、この地場産業は新たに二重の課題を負わされることとなった。その一つは、国内需要構造の変化、技術革新、情報化の進展、あるいは輸出環境の変化（国際競争力の低下）に対応して、先進国型地場産業に転換を図らねばならないという課題であった。このためには、製品の高級化、高付加価値や新製品の開発（多様化、個性化、ファッション化）を目的とする(1)技術・デザイン開発のための人材確保、(2)生産工程の自動化・省力化と品質管理・生産管理の推進、(3)産地問屋からの離脱＝自社による販売・開発・情報収集、などを図ることが必要である。

　もう一つの課題は、低成長に移行した素材産業（とくに公害型大企業）にかわって、「地方の時代」（1978年神奈川県知事長洲一二(ながすかずじ)提唱）の経済基盤を拡充するため、先端産業と連関した知識集約型の「地域産業」の振興を図ることであった。昭和30年代なかばに始まり、1979年（昭和54）に大分県知事平松守彦が「一村一品運動」を提唱して以来、全国的に本格化した「村おこし・町おこし」の動きに対応して、通産省（現経済産業省）も1984年4月、地域小規模事業活性化推進事業をスタートさせている。

［殿村晋一］

　1985年のプラザ合意以降円高が進み、消費財を生産する多くの伝統的地場産業は輸入品に代替され、衰退していった。通産省は、1986年「特定地域中小企業対策臨時措置法」を制定し、円高不況による影響の大きかった地域を指定し、事業転換等を促進した。1990年代のバブル崩壊後は、いっそうの中小企業集積の構造変化への対応と活性化を図るため、1992年（平成4）「特定中小企業集積の活性化に関する臨時措置法（集積活性化法）」が制定され、地場産業における中小企業の事業の効率化や新分野進出が促された。1997年には伝統的地場産業だけでなく「ものづくり」を支える基盤技術型の集積も対象に加えられ、「特定産業集積の活性化に関する臨時措置法」が成立、より広く「ものづくり」を支える体制へと転換した。

　2000年代以降、長期の不況や少子高齢化による内需縮小を受け、地場産業振興の方向も、事業転換から需要掘り起こし、販路開拓、輸出振興に変更された。2004年（平成16）には地域中小企業が一丸となって地場産品のブランド力の強化・育成を図ることを支援する「JAPAN(ジャパン)ブランド育成支援事業」が創設された。この事業はさらに発展し、2006年には「中小企業地域資源活用促進法」として法制化され、地域資源を活用した新商品開発や販路開拓を幅広く支援する制度となった。JAPANブランド支援事業採択プロジェクトの数は、2004年度から2008年度の間に278件に上っている。

［鹿住倫世］

『山崎充著『地場産業都市構想』（1981・日本経済評論社）』▽『清成忠男著『地域自立への挑戦』（1981・東洋経済新報社）』▽『日本経済新聞社編・刊『「地方」の挑戦』（1983）』▽『中村秀一郎著『挑戦する中小企業』（岩波新書）』

[参照項目] | 在来産業 | 地域ブランド | 中小企業 | 零細企業

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