Toyo Takushoku Co., Ltd.

A national policy company established by Japan in Korea for the purpose of colonization management. Established in 1908 (Meiji 41) under the Toyo Takushoku Company Law (Totaku Law). Initially, the main purpose was to have Japanese farmers immigrate to Korea. After its establishment, it became Korea's largest landowner, accumulating land and leasing it to Korean tenant farmers, and five years after its establishment, its cultivated land area reached about 65,000 chobu (about 64,465 hectares). In 1917 (Taisho 6), the Totaku Law was revised to remove restrictions on its business area, and it expanded its business to Manchuria (now northeastern China), Mongolia (now the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), Siberia, and the South Seas (southwestern Pacific Ocean), and it became particularly active in financial activities in Manchuria. However, it fell into a management crisis and eventually sought a way out by lending funds related to the "Korean Rice Increase Plan" and acting as an agent for land improvement projects. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the company began investing in mining and manufacturing in Korea, particularly in the construction of heavy industries, focusing on power source development in the north, and invested in dozens of companies. In this way, the company continued to occupy a major position in the Korean colonial economy, but was closed down and disbanded after Japan's defeat in World War II.

[Nakamura Aoshi]

"The Oriental Takushoku Company, compiled and published by the Oriental Takushoku Company, Thirty Years' Journal (1939)" ▽ "The Oriental Takushoku Company - Japanese Imperialism and the Asia-Pacific, by Ikuji Kurose (2003, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本が植民地経営の拓殖事業を目的として朝鮮に設置した国策会社。1908年（明治41）東洋拓殖株式会社法（東拓法）によって設立。当初は日本人農民を朝鮮に移民させることを主要目的とした。設立後の活動は、土地を集積して朝鮮人小作農に貸し付ける朝鮮最大の地主経営活動を中心に展開し、耕地所有面積も創立5年後には約6万5000町歩（約6万4465ヘクタール）に達した。1917年（大正6）東拓法の改正で営業地域の制限が撤廃され、満州（現中国東北）、蒙古(もうこ)（現内モンゴル自治区）、シベリア、南洋（太平洋南西部）まで事業を拡大し、とくに満州での金融活動を積極化したが、経営危機に陥り、結局、「朝鮮産米増殖計画」にかかわる資金貸付と土地改良事業の代行に活路を求めていった。ついで日中戦争期になると朝鮮の鉱工業への投資活動、とりわけ北部の電源開発を中心とする重工業建設に乗り出し、数十社への投資を展開。こうして朝鮮植民地経済のなかで大きな位置を占め続けたが、第二次世界大戦の敗戦により閉鎖機関となり解体した。

［中村青志］

『東洋拓殖株式会社編・刊『東洋拓殖株式会社三十年誌』（1939）』▽『黒瀬郁二著『東洋拓殖会社――日本帝国主義とアジア太平洋』（2003・日本経済評論社）』

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