The Japanese peasantry and economic growth since the land reform of 1946-47
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8414830 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bernard Bernier (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1980 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 40-52 |
| Publication date | 1980-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-4810 • E-ISSN: 1472-6033 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14672715.1980.10405561 |
| OpenAlex | W2328028029 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 6 |
The Land Reform of 1946–1947 marks a definite break in the history of Japanese rural society. It thoroughly eradicated the landlord-tenant class relation which had been a dominant feature of the Japanese countryside since the late Edo period (1600–1868). The Reform was imposed on the Japanese government by the Supreme Command of Allied Powers (SCAP). One of its basic tenets was that landlordism had been a major cause of the jingoistic and militaristic tendencies which characterized Japanese society in the 1930s and 1940s. It thus had to be eliminated. But a more important goal of the Reform was to stamp out rural radicalism which had been an important aspect of agrarian Japan in the 1920s and 1930s. Rural intransigence, prompted by the misery of the peasants under the landlord system, was a major potential source of social unrest, and it was feared that the peasantry might support left-wing parties. In order to eliminate all dangerous socialist tendencies in the countryside, it was necessary to return the land to the tillers, that is to transform the majority of agriculturalists into small property owners. This rural “middle class” would hopefully become a conservative political force, thus insuring that Japan remained in the anti-communist camp
Agrarian society · Agriculture · China · Communism · Development economics · Economic history · Economics · Land reform · Landlord · Peasant · Political economy · Political radicalism · Political science · Politics · Rural area · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,11 |
| Citation span | 1988 - 2014 (27) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |