The Japanese peasantry and economic growth since the land reform of 1946-47

Abstract

The Land Reform of 1946–1947 marks a definite break in the history of Japanese rural society. It thoroughly eradicated the landlord-tenant class relation which had been a dominant feature of the Japanese countryside since the late Edo period (1600–1868). The Reform was imposed on the Japanese government by the Supreme Command of Allied Powers (SCAP). One of its basic tenets was that landlordism had been a major cause of the jingoistic and militaristic tendencies which characterized Japanese society in the 1930s and 1940s. It thus had to be eliminated. But a more important goal of the Reform was to stamp out rural radicalism which had been an important aspect of agrarian Japan in the 1920s and 1930s. Rural intransigence, prompted by the misery of the peasants under the landlord system, was a major potential source of social unrest, and it was feared that the peasantry might support left-wing parties. In order to eliminate all dangerous socialist tendencies in the countryside, it was necessary to return the land to the tillers, that is to transform the majority of agriculturalists into small property owners. This rural “middle class” would hopefully become a conservative political force, thus insuring that Japan remained in the anti-communist camp.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bernard Bernier

I wish to thank Robert Ricketts who, together with Daniel Desmarais and Jean-Marc Fontan, is currently working with me on a research project. financed by the Canada Council, on Japanese agriculture in the Postwar period. and who read an earlier draft of this paper. His comments on the content as well as the style were very valuable I also want to thank Robert J. Smith for his suggestions on many aspects of the paper. Finally, Akio Yasue was very helpful in the choice of the Japanese literature relevant 10 the subject treated here.