Figures of total steam and sailing ships depict

Notes: Figures of total steam and sailing ships depict the toal number of steam and

sailing Western type ships (yasen) which existed and were owned in Japan

each year. However, fishing boats and warships are excluded. New steam and

sailing ships are those ships which were built by Japanese companies each

year, although these are limited to only those merchant ships of the Western

type which were formally registered. Imported steam and sailing ships are

those which were made in foreign countries and were purcheased by Japanese

shipping traders each year.

The law of ship inspection was amended in 1897 and as a consequence

socalled Ainoko-sen (hybrid ships) were changed in formal registration from

Japanese-type ships to Western-type ships. Therefore, a big increase of both

total ships and new production ships was observed from the turn of the century. The Ainoko-sen is a ship with a technological structure of Western type

inside, but its outside appearance resembled the Japanese type of ship.

Source: Naikaku T6keikyoku (Cabinet Statistical Bureau), Teikoku T6kei Nenkan

(Statistical Yearbook of Imperial Japan), various issues.

hand, steam ships showed a gradual expansion from the start of Meiji

Era, and by the early 1910s the volume (total holding capacity in

tons) of steam ships reached more than three times that of sailing

ships. In regard to the distribution of yasen made in Japan and yasen

imported from Western countries, the imported yasen held an overwhelmingly large share of volume in the early phases of development. 

Yet there gradually occurred an increase in the number of domestic

yi5sen during the late nineteenth century, and ultimately the domestic yi5sen became the more influential after the turn of the century.

The production volume of domestic yi5sen exceeded that of imported

yi5sen by the end of the Meiji Era (1911) when Japanese ship-building

companies advanced to a level where they were able to make steel

steam vessels as large as their Western counterparts.! Thus, from their

initial introduction, it took over half a century firmly to establish

modern imported ship-building technologies in Japan.

On the other hand, the traditional wasen continued to exist until

the end of Meiji Era despite the increase in modern yi5sen, as seen

in Table 5.2. The number of wasen did not show any obvious changes

throughout the Meiji Era. This lack of change implies a long coexisting process of development between the modern and traditional

sectors in this industry. After the outbreak of the First World War,

wasen holdings decreased drastically and the process of co-existence

came to an end.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SHIP-BUILDING INDUSTRY

The ship-building industry is characterized first and foremost by the

integration and assembling of many products which are produced

beforehand in related industries such as the iron and steeL electric,

chemical, wood and construction industries. Therefore, the development of a ship-building industry heavily depends on the conditions of

those industries with which it has its closest links. Second, this industry generally requires a huge amount of funds for the construction of

dockyards, setting up machines, employment of workers and so on.

As it takes a fairly long time to complete the production of a ship in

a shipyard, most companies must prepare in advance a considerable

sum of money in order to maintain production. Third, the ship-building

industry has a particularly strong connection with the shipping industry

from which the demand for ships emerges. Production of ships is

generally engaged in after getting an order from a shipping company,

thus making it difficult for any ship-building company to produce

the same products on a large scale in succession. Fourth, the establishment of a shipyard is strongly affected by the conditions of its

location. In the case of the modern sector, good harbours were indispensable for the growth of yi5sen production, while whether or not

suitable wooden resources existed near the production facility was a