the efficient application of electrical

industry was the continuous introduction of Western technological

innovations. It is well known that the improvements in spinning and

operation, the use of larger packages of parts and supplies, the efficient application of electrical motors and the perfecting of cottonblending techniques.   1 It

technology rather than mule spindle technology that was crucial to

providing the basis for the introduction of new innovations.

Until 1886 the Japanese cotton-spinning industry relied exclusively

on mules, but from 1888 came the rapid growth in the installation of

ring frames: 109 000 spindles and 80 100 spindles were installed in

1889 and 1890 respectively. The mule, which boasted a long and

respectable history, was surpassed more or less overnight by these

new ring frames (see Figure 4.1). Whilst the number of mule spindles

was maintained at a level of 100 000 for some time, the number in

use fell to between 40000 and 50000 after 1907. In contrast, ring

frames continued to increase at the rate of 100000 spindles per year, 

crossing the million spindle level by 1897 and reaching 1 440000

spindles (accounting for over 97 per cent of all spindles) in 1907.

The last expansion in the installation of mules came in 1890,2 and

the switch to ring frames was accomplished during the subsequent

remarkable expansion of spindles in the mill construction boom, when

ring frames were adopted to the exclusion of all else. Indeed, the

general preference in the Japanese spinning industry for ring frames

over mules had been decided by 1889 at the latest. This early and

complete switch to the ring frame was a development unprecedented

in other countries.3 There were two notable aspects that stimulated

this rapid switch. First, Japan was able to enjoy the benefits of being

a late industrializing country: by the time the Japanese cotton-spinning

industry started to develop in earnest during the early 1890s, improvements in the ring frame were already complete. Second, production in Japan was concentrated on coarse yarns and it was the

production of coarse yarns that benefited most from the use of ring

frames. In spite of these two favourable aspects, Japan's experience

deserves attention, particularly from an international perspective.

Neither the complete switch to ring frames in Japan nor their subsequent rapid diffusion throughout the country could be considered

normal developments when compared with the experiences of other

countries: India, for example, was also a late in dustrializing country,

but the industry did not develop in the same way.4 The aim of this

chapter is to ascertain the main reasons for the relative ease with

which the switch to ring frames and their diffusion were accomplished

in Japan.

The importance of the switch to ring frames has been accorded

sufficient recognition in the history of the Japanese textile industry,

but there has not been an analysis of the switch itself. Indeed, our

understanding of the reasons for the switch remains nothing more

than a collection of highly impressionistic explanations. As a result,

several conflicting explanations of this switch exist, without any attempt being made to resolve the discrepancies. In this chapter, my

intention is to clarify the factors that held sway over the choice of

technology that was made by drawing a clear distinction between the

ex ante decision to adopt a particular new technology and the subsequent adaptations made to the production system to adjust to the

new technology.

The most frequent reasons given for the switch to ring frames are

the following: