Historical Investigation: To what extent did the Taiwanese population benefit from Japans agricultural developments during the Japanese colonial period, 1895~1945?

3. One of Japan’s main aims in Taiwan was to increase agricultural exports to Japan, but without replenishing Taiwan’s productions.
4. Taiwanese economy improved considerably during the Japanese colonial period. The effects on the economy and workforce are as follows:

1. With the exception of the period during WWII, Taiwan’s agricultural and industrial output increased steadily during this period. For example, output in rice and sugar increased dramatically.
2. Improvement in GDE came about largely because exports, which “played an important role in economic growth” increased substantially.
3. Although the agricultural and thus economic advancement increased demand for non-agriculture-related jobs, these better-paid jobs were usually filled by people from Japan.
4. By 1940, less than 27% of the government workforce involving administrative powers was occupied by native Taiwanese. Most of the natives were involved in “unskilled and menial tasks.”
5. “Statistics for 1929 show that Japanese owned more than three-quarters of the capital in Taiwan organised as joint-stock companies, limited partnerships, or unlimited companies. In mining and industry (manufacturing and power), Japanese share of capital was 72 and 91 percent, respectively.”

5. Native Taiwanese could feel some effects from these changes:

1. Death rate fell as the health system improved.
2. When agricultural output increased, so did export - between 1911~1938 rice export to Japan increased from less than 100 000 MT to almost 750 000 MT.
3. Increased exports made products such as rice less available. As a result, native Taiwanese switched to cheaper food to maintain their diets. 
4. The average daily calories consumed decreased from 2011 to 1865 in 1910~1939.
5. More Taiwanese could afford more consumer goods.
6. There are various accounts and pictures of native Taiwanese farmers being heavily oppressed by the Japanese.  

6. Many today trace the reason for Taiwan’s so-called “Taiwan Miracle” – the rapid industrialization and economic growth of this once-backward country – to the economic developments Japan had made. They often attribute this “Miracle” to the fact that when Japan left in 1945, it had equipped Taiwan with the necessary “progressive and productive sector” for the economic leap that was to come.

3. Evaluation of sources

Source A:

Annual average of agricultural output between 1901~1945

(Source: Samuel Pao-San Ho. (1968). Agricultural Transformation Under Colonialism: The Case of Taiwan. The Journal of Economic History. 28 (3), 315.)

This source is published by Samuel Pao-San Ho, a professor who has written various books and articles on Taiwan’s recent history with Japan. In this article Ho’s purpose is to analyse the agricultural transformations Taiwan went through under Japan. The origin gives weight to this source because Ho is someone who is knowledgeable in the area this investigation is concerned with. However, it is possible that the purpose limited how Ho compiled and revised the data because he might have been inclined to illustrate improvements in Taiwan to correspond with the article’s title, “transformation”.

  The data also corresponds fairly well with other information stated in summary of evidence. Overall this source is valuable to a historian studying Taiwan’s economic development at the time. This is because agricultural growth was indicative of economic growth in this period. Also, these data are fairly objective, and thus give an unbiased view of agricultural development in Taiwan. However, one limitation is that it does not fully reflect how the Taiwanese themselves felt and benefitted under the Japanese. For example, it does not show the oppression and exploitation Taiwanese farmers faced from the colonizers.

Source B: 

Newspaper article:日據時代 悲苦農民的春天－簡吉 (Japanese Colonial Period – the light in the farmers’ dark days – JianJi)

Although sugar production increased steadily every year, the lives of the farmers became more and more intolerable. To ensure that the sugar processing factories had enough raw materials, the government established all the surrounding sugarcane farms as a source of materials and forbid the farmers from selling sugarcane to others. The price of sugar was also decided by the sugar factories, and the farmers could not negotiate with them. Even more outraging, the mass balances at the factories were often manipulated, and as a result the farmers often made no profit.

  This is a translation of a newspaper article extract. Its purpose is to narrate about a person named Jian Ji who gave hope to the heavily oppressed farmers during the colonial time. This article is valuable because it is based on a real story. However, a limitation is that the reporter might have exaggerated the hardship that the farmers faced, thus rendering it biased.

This article is from a Taiwanese news website, and this origin gives weight to the source because it is likely that the local news reporter would have more access to relevant knowledge. Also, the fact that this is a news report suggests that it conforms largely to public opinion. This suggests that this source’s view is agreed upon by most Taiwanese. However, it may be limited because the Taiwanese education was against the Japanese for a period of time. Thus, although this article corresponds to the community’s beliefs, the beliefs themselves may be biased and thus limited.

4. Analysis

The series of economic reforms left a large impact on Taiwan. This is an important issue when one studies the effect of Japan’s economic developments during the colonial period because it illustrates the extent to which Taiwan actually experienced the “improving” economy.

 

  The agricultural investments such as expanded irrigation certainly made agriculture more efficient and productive, and are reflected by the steady increase in production. Farming became easier and more efficient, and this resulted in increased production. On the surface it seems like the native Taiwanese benefited from Japan’s economic developments because an increase in production should increase their income and thus life quality. The improved economy also increased the demand of more prestigious jobs, and this fact alone suggests that the natives were given more opportunities and wages.

Also, many historians and economists studying the transformation that Taiwan had gone through in the last century attribute the fast development to the reforms of the Japanese. In fact, according to Immanuel C. Y. Hsu, “In East Asia, Taiwan is indeed second only to Japan in terms of industrialization, foreign trade, and quality of life” thanks to the “Economic Miracle” made possible by the Japanese reforms. In this sense, had the Japanese not given Taiwan its solid economic basis through the reforms, it is highly unlikely that the Taiwanese could have been liberated from economic hardship in relatively short time.

However, these facts alone do not take into account other economic actions of the Japanese, such as increasing exports to Japan, which rendered the locals short of quality food such as rice. Although official figures show economic and agricultural production to steadily increase annually, they do not show that food availability actually decreased for the natives due to increased exports. They also conceal the fact that countless farmers were heavily oppressed by the colonizers, which means that many natives did not enjoy the introduced changes. In addition, although the economic developments created new jobs and opportunities, this failed to benefit the Taiwanese significantly until the 1930s when there was a short supply of workforce from Japan and the mainland. This suggests that although Japan successfully developed Taiwan’s economy, it kept the locals from having access to most of the progress made.

  The suggestion that native Taiwanese did not benefit from the developments is further supported by sources such as Source 2 in section C. Since the Japanese-run factories often manipulated the mass balances and used other means to decrease pays for the farmers, it is likely that the latter were more dissatisfied than pleased with the colonizers’ changes. Although this source may have exaggerated for its purpose, nevertheless it largely reflects public beliefs.

  Thus, another interpretation may be that the Taiwanese did not benefit from Japan’s economic changes to a large extent when one examines their life qualities in relation to economic improvements.

5. Conclusion

Overall it seems that native Taiwanese did not benefit much under Japan’s economic developments during the Japanese colonial period in terms of their standard of living. Despite the increased productions and job opportunities, less quality food were in circulation and the natives were barred from most employment outside agriculture. Japanese suppression of the natives further suggests that the latter did not prosper much from the changes during this period.

  However, one must not overlook the economic advancements Taiwan has made since, thanks to Japan. Agriculture as a system was no longer fragmented and confused. Measures such as transportation, communication and a fixed currency set order to Taiwan’s agriculture and thus economy. Although this positive effect was not immediately felt by the population, it certainly became apparent after Japan left. The best proof of this effect is the so-called “Taiwanese Miracle”.

  Thus, it can be concluded that the Taiwanese population benefitted little from Japan’s economic development during the Japanese Colonial Period. Certainly the economy improved, but this development was partially cancelled out by the ill treatment and low living quality the population experienced. But in the long run Taiwan progressed rapidly because it now possessed the knowledge and power from Japanese occupation for mass production. This knowledge ultimately aided this country to accomplish the “Economic Miracle” and become the modern and developed nation it is today.

6. List of sources

Books

Immanuel C. Y. Hsu (2000). The Rise of Modern China. 6th ed. New York: Oxford University Press. 904

Mizoguchi Toshiyuki and Yamamoto Yuzo. (1987). Capital Formation in Taiwan and Korea. In: Ramon H. Myers, Mark R. Peattie The Japanese colonial empire, 1895-1945. United States of America: Princeton University Press. 399~401.

Samuel Pao-San Ho. (1987). Colonialism and Development: Korea, Taiwan and Kwantung. In: Ramon H. Myers, Mark R. Peattie The Japanese colonial empire, 1895-1945. United States of America: Princeton University Press. 347~398.

Samuel P. –S. Ho, Economic development of Taiwan, 1860~1970, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978, Table 6.2

Internet

賴峰偉. (2009). 日據時代 悲苦農民的春天－簡吉. Available: http://www.penghutime.com.tw/newsdata.php?no=09030257. Last accessed 07 September 2009.

Journal Articles

Chang Han-Yu and Ramon H. Myers. (1963). Japanese Colonial Development Policy in Taiwan, 1895~1906: A Case of Bureaucratic Entrepreneurship. The Journal of Asian Studies. 22 (4), 433

Richard Grabowski, Ronald L. Tracy and Onesimo Sanchez. (1986). The development of technology in Taiwanese agriculture. Journal of Economic Development . 11 (2), 161~176

Samuel Pao-San Ho. (1968). Agricultural Transformation Under Colonialism: The Case of Taiwan. The Journal of Economic History. 28 (3), 313~340

Appendix I: Examples of establishments vital for assisting agricultural growth

It is also clear that the colonial peoples benefited from ambitious Japanese programs to create modern facilities and institutions essential to economic growth. Modern transportation and communications, networks, banking and monetary systems, educational and health facilities, were enjoyed by colonizer and colonized alike. It is a matter of historical record that Japanese investment in public health care in all the colonies caused remarkable decrease in mortality, and a general increase in the health of its colonial peoples, for example. When the colonial rulers built a bridge over a Korean river or connected two Taiwanese towns by rail, all benefited. Yet even in an institutional sense inequities existed not only between Japanese colonials and colonial indigenes, but also between component territories of the empire, exemplified by disparities in consumer services, wage differentials, and employment rates.

Appendix II: Images of Taiwanese farmers oppressed by the Japanese.

Farmers being arrested – Japanese is claiming the cow at the same time.

This image shows an execution by the Japanese. This illustrates the oppression and fear the Taiwanese experienced.

Appendix III: Original text of source B

甘蔗產量雖年年成長，農民生活卻愈加痛苦，殖民政府為保障糖廠原料供應無虞，將糖廠周邊庶園全數畫為原料地，農民不得將蔗作賣至他地。甘蔗價格也由糖廠單方決定，蔗農無從議價，農民任由糖廠宰割。更不合理的是，糖廠秤量甘蔗經常偷斤減兩，不時藉故扣重，讓蔗農血本無歸。

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