Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on Kawada Shirō, a professional economist who contributed to social reforms both in theory and practice. This paper analyzes Kawada's writings on capitalism and social policy, seeking to shed light on how Japanese economic elites perceived capitalism in its transitional period.

Paper long abstract:

In 1909, Kawada Shirō 河田嗣郎 (1883-1942), the young associate professor of economics from the Imperial University Kyoto, delivered a speech on overpopulation and emigration at the annual conference of the "Social Policy Association" (Shakai Seisaku Gakkai). Kawada argued that the seemingly problematic issue of overpopulation was overblown and could easily be solved if the equal distribution of wealth and income was ensured by the operative social policies. Between 1912 and 1915, Kawada studied in Germany, France, Britain, and the United States---where he observed the issues caused by poverty and the working conditions in industries and agriculture. Strongly influenced by the contemporary German 'Kathedersozialisten' (socialists of the chair), Kawada aimed at improving the working and living conditions of the proletariat and thereby moderating social conflicts by social reforms rather than socialist revolution--a more radical political position represented by his fellow-countryman Kawakami Hajime.

As the chronic depression after World War I (WWI) replaced the export-led economic boom and various social conflicts surged in both urban and rural Japan, Kawada acted as one of the most productive social policy advocates, publishing extensively on various social issues, including urban poverty, the food crisis, labor unions, the ground rent problem in rural Japan, feminism, and so on. In 1928, Kawada was appointed as the first director of the newly founded Osaka University of Commerce (1928). He smartly utilized his personal networks and transformed this former higher commercial school into one of the strongholds for social policy scholars in interwar Japan. Meanwhile, Kawada also contributed significantly to the city's policymaking through his personal connection with the mayor, Seki Hajime.

This paper focuses on Kawada Shiro's writings on urban social issues and his actions to solve these issues. Based on a careful examination of Kawada's articles, reports, and monographs in the light of the concrete social realities he was explicitly addressing, this paper explores how the social reformers affiliated with the "Social Policy Association" grasped the rising social tensions, and outlines the ideal capitalist society they envisioned during the interwar years.