Japanese Food Consumption and Market

What were the main patterns of household consumption in Korea and Japan from the late 19th century of a) foodgrains, and b) manufactured goods. What do these patterns tell us about the role of the domestic market in the two countries’ economic growth?

The development of Japan and Korea is often observed as a supply side story; whether it be the sector they chose to emphasize, the export led growth strategy usually attached to their development model, or the development of human capital, most of the factors associated with the success of these two countries are usually attributed to the production side. For that reason, in this essay, we will concentrate particularly on the role of each respective domestic market in the history of their development. Beginning with a brief description of the differences in consumption of foodstuffs and manufactured goods starting in the late 19th century in the first part, then we will move on to a more analytical section where we will judge the importance that each of the countries’ domestic market played in growth and in development. We mainly observe that the role of the Japanese domestic market was much larger for its development than the Korean for its own economy.

* *

*

We will begin by looking at Japan’s consumption of foodgrain and mainly Rice in the end of the 19th century, as this has had a major effect on its own development [1]and that of Korea, especially during colonial times.

Rice was the major grain consumed and produced in Japan, and the Meiji Land tax reform, which made tax payable in cash, freed up a lot of rice for consumption, and confirmed it as the major staple of the Japanese diet.

The “Meiji Green Revolution” along with increases in per capita income resulted in a steady increase in household consumption of rice[2]; we can see, however, that as Japanese growth continued, and Japanese consumer became richer, after WWII, and into the end of the 20th century, food...