Trend of Japanese Industry
—A Study on the Basis of the Factory Statistics—
Department of Commerce and Industry
An annual survey of factories has been made for some time past by the Department of Commerce and Industry as prescribed by the Regulations Governing Factory Investigations in accordance with the Resources Investigation Law, and the tabulated returns are published as the Factory Statistics. The survey covers only those factories in Japan proper under private management and equipped to employ or employing more than five working hands. Each survey was carried out under the aforementioned Regulations in force at the time, with its prescribed limitations permitting the inclusion only of factories of certain types and capacities in terms of equipment and number of hands engaged. It is on this basis that this brief review of the trend of Japanese industry has been established.
Under the Regulations Governing Industrial Investigations promulgated in September 1939, and replacing the Regulations referred to in the preceding paragraph, future surveys will be extended to cover all factories and workshops throughout the country. The first investigation in keeping with the new system was made during the course of last year, but the returns are not as yet ready for publication.
Number of Factories
[Chart 1: bar chart, number of factories in 10,000s, 1929-1938]
| Yr. | No. of Factories |
|---|---|
| 1929 | 59,887 |
| 1930 | 62,234 |
| 1931 | 64,436 |
| 1932 | 67,318 |
| 1933 | 71,940 |
| 1934 | 80,311 |
| 1935 | 85,174 |
| 1936 | 90,602 |
| 1937 | 106,005 |
| 1938 | 112,329 |
A cursory examination of Chart 1 reveals a progressive, if somewhat
irregular, rise over the ten-year range with the figures for 1938 showing an increase of 85 per cent over those for 1929.
[Chart 2: bar chart, classification by industry for 1938, comparison with 1937, number of factories in 10,000s]
| Industry | No. of factories in 1938 | Rate of increase or decrease compared with 1937 |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton-spinning | 28,095 | (−) 0.1% |
| Metal | 11,129 | (+) 10.5 |
| Machine Tool | 17,576 | (+) 20.1 |
| Ceramic | 4,813 | (−) 3.5 |
| Chemical | 6,147 | (+) 5.6 |
| Lumber and Wood-ware | 10,628 | (+) 7.6 |
| Printing and Bookbinding | 3,932 | (+) 1.9 |
| Foodstuff | 16,941 | (+) 2.6 |
| Gas and Electric | 670 | (+) 2.1 |
| Miscellaneous | 12,398 | (+) 8.4 |
Here a division is made according to the kind of industry engaged in and a comparison drawn between the 1937 and 1938 returns.
In contrast to the marked increase in the number of machine tool and metal working factories, it will be noted that cotton-spinning registers a slight diminution.
Chart 3 demonstrates the composition of Japanese industry over the ten-year period 1929–1938. It will be seen that the latest figures give the cotton-spinning industry 25 per cent of the total number of factories, placing it well in the lead of all others—a rank it has consistently held throughout the survey. Machine tool factories
over the rest of the period surveyed, that for 1938 being 9 per cent over the figure for 1937.
[Chart 5: bar chart, classification by industry for 1938, comparison with 1937, number in 10,000s]
| Industry | No. of factory hands in 1938 | Rate of increase or decrease as compared with 1937 |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton-spinning | 978,317 | (−) 5.2 |
| Metal | 375,354 | (+) 20.9 |
| Machine Tool | 846,512 | (+) 40.7 |
| Ceramic | 105,462 | (−) 6.6 |
| Chemical | 322,461 | (−) 0.1 |
| Lumber and Wood-ware | 114,495 | (+) 6.1 |
| Printing and Bookbinding | 63,576 | (−) 1.7 |
| Foodstuff | 190,216 | (+) 2.5 |
| Gas and Electric | 10,520 | (+) 13.3 |
| Miscellaneous | 194,406 | (+) 2.9 |
There is a marked rise in the 1938 figures for the machine tool and metal industries over those of 1937. Ceramics, however, showed a decline for the same period of 6.6 per cent. and cotton-spinning 5.2 per cent.
[Chart 6: stacked percentage chart, comparison on a percentage basis, 1929-1938; categories Unclassified, Gas and Electric, Foodstuff, Printing and Bookbinding, Lumber and Wood-ware, Chemical, Ceramic, Machine Tool, Metal, Cotton-spinning]
[Chart 3: stacked percentage chart, comparison on a percentage basis, 1929-1938; categories Unclassified, Gas and Electric, Foodstuff, Printing and Bookbinding, Lumber and Wood-ware, Chemical, Ceramic, Machine Tool, Metal, Cotton-spinning]
come next in importance with 15.6 per cent, to be closely followed by the foodstuff industry with 15.1 per cent. Unclassified industries make for only 11.0 per cent of the total, and metals 9.9 per cent.
Number of Factory Hands
[Chart 4: bar chart, totals according to year, number in 1,000,000s]
| Yr. | No. of factory hands |
|---|---|
| 1929 | 1,825,022 |
| 1930 | 1,683,563 |
| 1931 | 1,661,502 |
| 1932 | 1,733,511 |
| 1933 | 1,901,091 |
| 1934 | 2,163,453 |
| 1935 | 2,369,277 |
| 1936 | 2,592,687 |
| 1937 | 2,936,512 |
| 1938 | 3,201,319 |
It will be noted from a comparison of Chart 1 to the above that despite the constant yearly increase in the number of factories, there was a marked decrease in the number of hands employed during the three years succeeding 1929. It was not until 1933 that the upward trend was re-established, the rise being fairly consistent
The move from the light to the heavy industries is clearly indicated in chart 6. In spite of this change in the grouping, cotton-spinning still leads all other industries in the percentage of hands employed with 30.6 per cent of the total for 1938; machine tool follows, accounting for 26.4 per cent, and the metal and chemical industries 11.7 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively.
Value of Output
[Chart 7: bar chart, totals according to year, in 1,000,000,000 yen]
| Yr. | Value in 1,000 yen |
|---|---|
| 1929 | 7,959,028 |
| 1930 | 5,962,810 |
| 1931 | 5,174,578 |
| 1932 | 5,982,469 |
| 1933 | 7,871,364 |
| 1934 | 9,390,060 |
| 1935 | 10,836,894 |
| 1936 | 12,257,588 |
| 1937 | 16,356,176 |
| 1938 | 19,487,320 |
Examination of these returns (chart 7) shows a decline in the four years following 1929, known as "the year of the great depression." Otherwise, the rise in the value of industrial production is truly remarkable though allowance will of course have to be made for the general price-increase that has taken place.
In respect of the gas and electric industries, the figures pertain only to the value of the by-products of those industries.
[Chart 8: bar chart, classification by industry for 1938, comparison with 1937 figures, in 1,000,000,000 yen; categories Cotton-spinning, Metal, Machine Tool, Ceramic, Chemical, Lumber and Wood-ware, Printing and Bookbinding, Foodstuff, Gas and Electric, Miscellaneous]
| Industry | Output in 1,000 of yen | Rate of increase or decrease as compared with 1937 |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton-spinning | 3,933,142 | (−) 7.2 |
| Metal | 4,582,107 | (+) 30.8 |
| Machine Tool | 3,801,359 | (+) 48.7 |
| Ceramic | 400,869 | (−) 1.1 |
| Chemical | 3,470,169 | (+) 19.6 |
| Lumber and Wood-ware | 457,372 | (+) 20.5 |
| Printing and Bookbinding | 280,997 | (+) 2.8 |
| Foodstuff | 1,789,208 | (+) 21.4 |
| Gas and Electric | 47,190 | (+) 66.1 |
| Miscellaneous | 724,902 | (+) 21.5 |
The increases for 1938 over the 1937 returns covers the whole range of industries, particularly in respect to the gas and electrical and the machine tool and metal industries.
[Chart 9: stacked percentage chart, comparison on a percentage basis, 1929-1938; categories Unclassified, Gas and Electric, Foodstuff, Printing and Bookbinding, Lumber and Wood-ware, Chemical, Ceramics, Machine Tool, Metal, Cotton-spinning]
In the percentage of total output value, the cotton-spinning industry has had at last to cede pride of place to metal working. The 1938 returns charted above show only 20.2 per cent for the former as against 23.5 per cent for the latter; while machine tool and chemical industries follow closely with 19.5 per cent and 17.8 per cent respectively.