Paper short abstract:

This paper clarifies how Honda Seiroku (1866-1952), a forestry professor, sought to improve society through the use of natural resources. Through his economic commentaries and activities, it shows that his ideas on the economy during the interwar period triggered activities for social improvement.

Paper long abstract:

During the interwar period in Japan, businesspersons, company-holders, and academicians alike tried to understand the issues surrounding the capitalist economy and to reflect that understanding in their activities. Intellectuals also helped spread the new realities and ideas of capitalism throughout Japan, including its colonies. Of course, the way they understood it varied depending on their field of expertise and personality. However, if we focus on the ideas that are particular to capitalism, like capital or investment, how did these intellectuals apply them to situations outside the market world? In particular, how was the idea of investment addressed, an idea that is frequently deplored by academicians in present-day Japan in discourses critical of "neo-liberalism"?

One prime example, and the subject of my paper, is Honda Seiroku (1866-1952), a professor in the Faculty of Agriculture at the Imperial University of Tokyo. He not only taught forestry at the university but also and worked outside the university as a scholar actively involved in social work, such as designing public parks throughout Japan and delivering frequent public lectures. He was also an individual investor, investing in the stock market and the forests themselves, managing his own assets. It is thought that, behind his activities, he learned a great deal from German economist Lujo Brentano, with whom he had become acquainted when he was studying in Germany. Actually, it was Brentano's advice that led Honda to start investing.

While he did not write many articles of economic criticism, he was a professor who was conscious of the issues that were endemic to capitalism at that time, and focused on social improvement related to capitalist economics. From this perspective, the current paper will analyze his economic commentaries and social activities. This will clarify how Honda sought to improve society through the use of natural resources such as forests. By analyzing his perception on capitalism, and later, the totalitarian economic regime, it shows that his recognition of Japanese economy during the interwar period triggered various activities for social improvement like designing public parks.