午夜剧场

The Great Kanto Earthquake of 100 years ago has been discussed in various ways. However, most humanities and social science books and papers focus on the damage in Tokyo and Yokohama, the short-term impact on the Japanese economy, the reconstruction of the imperial capital centered on Home Minister Shinpei Goto's reconstruction plan and the political maneuvering surrounding it, and the massacres of Koreans and anarchists caused by rumors. What has been missing from previous research is the perspective and activities of the business leaders, companies, and the financial world who were the drivers of economic activity.

Therefore, in this book, I first introduce the little-known theories of moving the capital immediately after the earthquake—specifically the relocation plan by Major Hitoshi Imamura of the Army's core—and then conduct a detailed analysis of the activities of the domestic and international economic sectors (business leaders and companies). In other words, I wanted to clarify, based on domestic and international materials, what kind of reconstruction visions the "private sector" (business leaders, companies, and the financial world) had for the Great Earthquake, how they negotiated with the "public sector" (government and local municipalities) to realize them, to what extent their visions were achieved, and what impact this had on Japanese society aiming for modernization and the international community surrounding Japan. At the same time, I sought to reveal how the economic sectors in Japanese regions outside the disaster area and the rest of the world reacted to the earthquake.

What I found interesting during my research at public libraries in various regions were the articles in local newspapers such as the Akita Sakigake Shimpo, Kahoku Shimpo, Kobe Yushin Nippo, and Kanmon Nichinichi Shimbun. First, I was surprised by the rapid and proactive support activities of the business community, centered on the Chambers of Commerce. Next, I clearly understood the differences in how the earthquake was perceived in each region. The economic circles in the Kansai region and further west, such as Osaka and Kobe, believed that Osaka would become the center of the Japanese economy after the earthquake and strongly demanded the development of transportation networks (railways and shipping) that would directly connect the Tohoku region with the West Japan economic zone without passing through Tokyo or Yokohama. Furthermore, the "company histories" of various corporations contained vivid and powerful episodes of both joy and sorrow.

Analyzing the reconstruction process of the Great Kanto Earthquake from such a glocal and long-term perspective reveals that there was a possibility for another modern history to emerge—one significant enough to redraw the economic map of the entire Japanese Empire, including its colonies, in the 1920s. This will likely provide suggestions for measures against future anticipated disasters such as an earthquake directly under the capital or a Nankai Trough earthquake.

Masato Kimura

Chikuma Shinsho

320 pages, 1,100 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.