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LANDREFORMAND J APAN SDEVELOPMENT
ECONOMCR. P. DORE
There i s general agreement among the students of J apan' s
economcdevel opment that agri cul ture' s contri buti on to the
task of bui l di ng astrong i ndustri al base was a consi derabl e
one. I t provi ded export earn-i ngs and i mport subst i tutes whi
ch hel ped i n acqui ri ng the machi neryand rawmateri al s whi ch
had ta be bought abroad. I t managed a steadyexpansi on of the
suppl y of stapl e foQds whi ch enabl ed a growng townpopul at i on
to be fed reasonabl y cheap food. I t contri buted through thel and
tax a substanti al porti on of the funds whi ch provi ded the i nf
ra-st ructure of communi cati ons, govemment and educati on, and
through theprof i ts of the l andl ords some 0L the capi tal whi ch
devel oped especi al l ythe smal l i ndustri es. And i t was i n
part a growth i n producti vi ty whi chmade thi s squeeze possi bl
e w thout such a drasti c l oweri ng of rurall i vi ng standards as
to cause uncontrol l abl e pol i t i cal i nstabi l i ty.
Was thi s i n part because of , or i n spi te of , the nature of
the l andtenure system? I t has by now become a trui smtbat one i
mportantLactor determni ng the producti vi ty of agri cul ture i s
the systemof pro-perty i nst i tuti ons under whi ch l and i s
owned and used. The questi onwhi ch natural l y ari ses, therefore,
i s thi s : granted that agri cul ture madea substanti al contri
buti on to Japan' s economc growth, was i t the bestthat i t coul d
have made ? Or i s i t possi bl e that under a di f f erent l
andtenure syst emi t coul d have done more ?
Thi s questi on, I i ke al l the other i f questi ons about
human hi story,can onl y be answered by guesses deri ved f
romcompari son w th othercountri es. For such compari sons i t i s
useful to have a typol ogy. rrheone I suggest bel ow has no parti
cul ar meri t except that i t seem to beappl i cabl e to a vari ety
of si tuati ons and i s a handy basi s for general i zati on.
Tl l e typol ogy i s l i tt l e more than a di st i ncti on
between two types ofl and reform based on the ki nd of l andl ord
whose power and propertyi s af fected. The key i s thereL0re the
def i ni t i on of the two types ofl andl ord. The f i rst i s typi
cal l y one who acqui res control of a terri toryby ml i tary
conquest or by i nfeudati on-bci ng al l ocated terri tpry by
awarri or chi ef who thereby secures hi s al l egi ance. At f rst
he i s l ord and
_ _= i
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48 8 The Devel of)i ng Economesmaster i n every sense ; he draws
produce f romthe cul ti vator by vi rtueof hi s monopol y of vi ol
ence ; pol i t i cal control and economc expl oi tati onare one and
i ndi vi si bl e and there i s no conceptual di st i ncti on
betweenrents and taxes.
At a l ater stage of devel opment the autonomy and arbi trari
ness ofhi s pol i t i cal power may become ci rcumcri bed by the
devel opment of acentral state authori ty. The central government
may cl ai mt he sol e ri ghtto tax and the former feudal magnate
nowonl y draws a rent. He maysti l l , however, exerci se. pol i t
i cal power i n hi s heredi tary f i ef by ascri pti veri gl l t,
though he may exerci se i t through del egates, he hi mel f l i vi
ng i nthe central capi tal and onl y occasi onal l y vi si t i ng
hi s estates for supervi soryor ceremoni al purposes.The second
type of l andl ord i s characteri st i cal l y one who achi eveshi
s posi t i on by econol l i c means w thi n the f ramework of a
systemofestabl i shed pol i t i cal order ; not by warfare or that
ml der type of rarf arethat i s pol i t i cs. Someti mes he i s a
merchant, someti mes a thri f ty farmerwho acqui res l and f romthe
i mprovi dence or msf ortunes of others, some-t i mes a i
noney-1ender. He may al so exerci se some pol i t i cal power, buti
t i s power exerci sed through the f ramework of a systemof
governmenti n whi ch he has no ascri pti ve ri ght, onl y the power
of mani pul ati ongai ned by vi rtue of hi s superi or weal th.
Such l andl ords have smal l erestates than the f i rst ki nd, and
they general l y l i ve near the l and theyown. They may, i n Marxi
st term, act as the rural w ng of the bour-geoi si e, a conservati
ve pol i t i cal f orce whi ch gai ns advantages for i tsel ff
romcontacts w th the urban pol i t i ci ans, and provi des the l
atter w th anecessary basi s of support i n proto-democrati c
system. They are notnecessari l y obstacl es to al l economc
progress and can i n some casesserve as the agents of economc devel
opment.
The next di sti ncti on fol l ows l ogi cal l y f romthe f i
rst. What w l l becal l ed a Stage I redi stri buti ori i s one whi
ch expropri ates, or i n someway drast i cal l y reduces t he power
of , Type 1 I andl ords. A Stage I Il and redi stri buti on i s one
whi ch expropri ates or weakens the secondtype of Iandl ord.For
some countri es the cl assi f i cati on seem cl earl y apposi te.
Onecan pi npoi nt the two di st i nct hi stori cal events
representi ng the twostages of l and reform I n Czechosl ovaki a,
Yugosl avi a, and other countri esof the ol d Austro-Hungari an Enl
pi re the l and reform whi ch took pl aceafter the Fi rst Worl d
War were Stage I reL0rm ; those whi ch cameafter the Second Worl d
War were Stage 11 reform. I n Russi a onemay take the l and redi
stri buti on fol l ow ng the revol uti on as the f i rst
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L Z4R 4n4E o D 8ZO 6 489stage and co ecti vi zati on destroyi ng
the power of the kul aks as thesecond Ther6are other countri es
such s Engl and where there hasbeen no rststage reform and where
the Type I l andl ords have neverdi sappeared Thei r l ocal pol i t
i cal power has been whi tt l ed away to thepoint where onl y in
the more remote areas of ural Scotl and can thesci Qns of nobl e
faml i es such as Lord I l ome cl ai m a parl i amentary seatal
most s a heredi tary ri ght Thei r economc hol d over the l and
remai nshowever though i t i s i n no sense di f ferent f rom that
of the Type I Il andl o ds those who acqui red thei r l and by
economc means of ten byi nvest i ng sma estates the pro ts deri ved
from i ndustry and commerce Al ready by the si xteenth century i t
i s di cul t to sep rate the two typesof l andl ords as v ess the
hi stori ans7di sputes about the ri se or faU ofthe gentry or t he
ari stocracy F ance by contrast qui te cl earl y had a S ge I edi
stri budon i ntke cel ebrated events whi ch took pl ace i n 789 but
i n nei ther Francenor Engl and has a Stage I I redi str i but i on
ken p ce I nstead i n bothcountri es the Type I I l a ndl ords who
supPorted the bourgeoi s r6gi mes Qthe ni neteenth century were
forcedl as thei r pol i t i cal power waned toaccept tenancy reform
whi ch redi stri buted i ncome w thout redi stri buti ngthe
ownershi p of l and I n these countri es and i n Engl and especi al
l y i ndustr ahzati on b 8popul ati on growth created seri ous
pressure on thel and and the abi l i ty of l andl ords to accept
gradual reform i f onl ybecause they had al ready acqui red
substanti al i ndustri al i nterests oohas created a si tuati on
where the entrepreneuri al tenant can be countedas a member of the
prosperous mddl e cl ass I n I rel and on the otherhand grea er
popul ati on pressure greater tenant di stress and a morei ntransi
gent mw l l i ngness of l andl ords to accept reform l ed not
toevol uti on but to drasti c changes whi ch saw the vi tual el i
mnadon ofthe Type I l andlords i n the space of a decade Agai n
there are comr i es where a rststage l and reform has onl yrecentl
y been car ed out I ndi a for exampl e where the removal o thej
agadi rs and zamndars di d not i mmedi atel y af fect the Type I I
l andl ordsand I ran where onl y the holders of whole vi ages were
a ected by theori gi nal l and reform measure A new phenomenon i n
the modem worl d however i s the acce erated spread of communi cati
ons educati on and pol i t i cal consci ousnessone of the resul ts
of whi ch i s that the pol i t i cal demand for l and reformcan
become i rresi sti bl e in countri es whi ch are otherwse at a l
evel ofeconomc devel opment at whi ch a century ago ef fecti vel y
organi zedpopul ar pol i t i cal demands of any ki nd woul d have
been unth kabl e
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49 Th D 8Z gEoO 85Hence the strong Po ti cal pressure for a
Stage I I l and reform i l l I ndi aonl y a decade or so after the
f i rst H ence the second wave of l andreform i n I ran whi ch i s
aimed two years af ter the f i rst at the estatesof the smal l er I
andl brds Hence too countri es where the l nd reformwhi ch has
taken pl ace has been i n e ect a telescoped Stage I pl usStage I I
operati on j umpi ng f rom a structure of I arge feudal hol di
ngsto atomzed peasant propri etorshi p Bol i vi a i s an outstandi
ng recel l texampl e I f the reader sti l l thi nks that the typol
ogy h s any va i di ty he w l lhave no doubt where to t J apan i
nto the pi cture The Mei j l Restorati on and the cre ti on of a
central i zed system of government di spossessed though w th
handsome compensati on J apan s Type I l andl ords the4 They remai
ned weal thy but thei r weal th was no l onger i nl anded
propertyThey al most enti rel y l ost l ocal pol i t i cal i n
uence andbecame a metropol i tan ari stocracy and al though they
were granted tobe sure a pl ace n the pol i t i cal system i n the
House of Peers at noti me was the House of Peers at the centre of
po ti cal power Th s fact i n i tsel f was of consi derabl e i
mportance for J apan s i ndustri al i zati on Those who control l
ed pol i cy af ter the Mei j i Restorati onwere not l anded gentl
emen but members of a bureaucracy who dependedf or the r i ncome on
thei r sal ar es and on the less f ormal i ncome chamel sprovided
by thei r more or l ess corrupt rel ati ons w th the new i ndustri
alcl ass They had th6refore no personahnterest i n protecti ng agri
cul turali ncomes at the cost of sl owng the growth of i ndustry
They coul dand di d mai ntai l l a hi gh l evel of taxati on on
agri cul ture There i s amarked contrast here w th the si tuati on
i n say Engl and where thel anded ari stocracy w th strong personal
agri cul tural i nterests mai ntai nedthei r pol i ti cal i nHuence
unti l a rel at i vel y advance l stage of i n l ustr i aldevel
opment I t was not unti l the mddl e of the ni neteenth centurythat
the repeal of the Com Laws marked the nal emergence to pol i t i
calsupremacy of i ndustri al i nterests Si ml arl y i n a good
fnany Lati nAmeri can countri es today the conti nued pol i t i cal
power of a tradi ti onall andl ord cl ass forti ed by those who
have urban weal th back i nto thepurchase of l anded estates and
adopted tradi ti onal val ues remai ns anobstacl e to seri ous i
ndustri al devel opment The removal o the y ef t a cl ear f i el d
for t he Type I I l and rds those sm er vi l l age l ndl o ds who
had been acqui ri ng controlover l and by economc means n the
latter hal f of the Tokugawaperi od The fi rst decades of the new
r6gi me saw an extensi on o thei rpower3var ous f actors but especi
al l y the operati on of the new tax
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L4 4R4 7 4EoO Z 6 ZoP Z 2 49system i ncreased the amount of l
and whi ch such l andl ords control l edf rom about3 to about45per
cent of the tota They remained thedon i nant economc and pol i t
cal i nHuel l ce i l l the countrysi de unti l J pan sStage I I l
and reform put them out of busi ness i n 947 949 No one can seri
ousl y doubt that the Stage I l and reform representedby the di
spossession of the 4 7 was an essenti al pre col l di t i on orJ
apan s development The questi on whether or not the l and
tenuresystem after 87 was the best one to promote that devel opment
resol vesi tsel f therefore i nto the questi on coul d the Stage I
I l and reform w thadvantage have come e rl i erP Supposi ng that
the Mei j i govemmenthad i nsi sted that the l and certi cates i
ssued i n the 87 s shoul d al waysbe gi ven to the actual cul t i
vator an l that al l other cl ai m and l i ens shoul dbe i gnored
or compensated for3 and supPosi ng that i t had set r i gi i mts to
the a ea of l and whi ch any faml y mght subsequel l t l y acqui
reby purchase supPosi ng i n other words that the St ge I and Stage
I Il and reform had been tel escoped i nto one thus establ i shi l
l g i mmedi atel ya smal l peasant hol di ng system woul d the
growth of gri cul tural prod cti vi y have been faster or agri cul
ture s con ri buti on to econom cdevel opl nent i n general gre ter
There are some good grounds for nsweri ng no One mght l i stthem as
fol l ows These l andl ords were vi l l age l andl ords themel ves
of ten farmerswth an un l erstandi ng of agri cul ture and personal
moti ves for i mprovi ngthei r tenants standards of husbandry
Though rents were genera y xedrents i n produce the tradi t i on of
rent reducti ons i n years of bad harvestpreserved el emel l ts ofa
sha e system Mal l y of them through experi enceas vi l l age
headmen and contact w th the5 cl ass had devel opedCon uci an i
deas of paternal responsi bi l i ty whi ch meant that thei r
economc i nterests were someti mes reinforced by a sense of moral
duty toi l nprove thei r tenants producti on methods for the l
atter s own good As consequence they had the o to use thei r
economcal l y basedpol i ti cal col l trol of vi l l age society to
improve agri cul tufe ThO l i tera ure avai l abl e i n Engl i sh
reHects onl y a f racti on of the i nformati on avai l abl e i l l
the works of J apanese scholars but good general i dea of the
development Q agri cul ture i n J apan and i n pa ti cul ar of the
rol e of the l andl ords may be gained f rom the fol l owng B F J
ohnston Agri cul tural Devel opment and Economc Transformat n
AComparati veStudyof heJ apaneseExper ence o R 5 z5 85 5 Vo I I I
No 3 November 962 l T Ogura Ag Z 7 D 8Zo 8 4 J apal l FAO Associ
ati on 963 K Ohkawa and H Rosovsky The Rol e of Agri cul tu ei
nModemapaneseEconomcDevel opment E o o D 8 3 4 C Z g October 96 Pt
2 R P Dore Agri cul utural Improvement i n
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The Devel opi rtg Economes922. Secondl y, they al so were i n a
better posi t i on than other vi l l agers
to have the ;e/ now edge to do so. Bei ng ri cher they had more
l ei sureand travel l ed more. They brought thei r bri des f romf
urther af i el d andconsequentl y had w der ki nshi p connecti ons.
They coul d af ford educati onand were someti mes the onl y l i
terate members of thei r vi l l age. Theywere consequentl y i n a
better posi t i on to l earn of superi or methodspracti sed el
sewhere and to keep i n touch w th the nati onal centres oftechni
cal i nnovati on-as wel l as someti mes bei ng i nventors and
experi -menters themel ves.
3. Many of the producti ve i nnovati ons i n agri cul ture i n
thi s peri odrequi red the creati on of new formal organi zati ons.
Consol i dated schei nesfor the reorgani zati on of f i el d si
zes, i rri gati on and drai nage systemcertai nl y di d. So di d
the creati on of new marketi ng channel s, ofi ncenti ve-creati ng
shows and competi t i ons, of the pri mt i ve travel l i ng-l
ecturer systemof agri cul tural extensi on, and so on. Such organi
zati onscoul d be created much more easi l y i n an authori tari an
manner by useof the l andl ord' s tradi t i onal power than they
coul d have been i f i t hadbeen necessary td persuade the majori
ty of the vi l l agers to come togetherto L0rmsuch organi zati ons
on a f oot i ng of equal i ty i n a democrati cmanner.4. The l andl
ords' r6l e as l i nks i n a communi cati on systemj oi ni ngthe vi
l l ages to the centre of government was i mportant L0r more thanj
ust the di f fusi on of agri cul tural i mprovements. They were i
nterpretersof government pol i ci es w thout whomthere mght have
been far i norepeasant upri si ngs and general pol i t i cal unrest
that there i n f act was. Atthe same ti me thei r own pol i t i cal
ambi t i ons L0rced the creat i on of l ocalgovernment system whi
ch coul d be gradua. 1l y ex anded to meet i ncreas-i ng demands f
or pol i t i cal parti ci pati on, whereas i f there had been nol
andl ord cl ass to make demands whi ch were of a nature moderate
enoughto be acceptabl e w th modi f i cati ons to the mi ng Tokyo
ol i garchy, con-cessi ons mght have beerL del a. yed and. real l y
revol uti onary forces bui l tup whi ch mgl l t have destroyed the
whol e stnl cture of admni strati on;The l andl ords were part i
cul arl y i mportant as i nterpreters of the govern-ment' s educati
onal pol i cy and of ten pl ayed a l eadi ng part i n the bui l di
ng
J apan : 1870-1900, Econol ni c Develop, 1l ent and Cul tural
Change, October, 1960, Pt. 2 ;R. P. Dore, The J apanese Landl ord :
Good or Bad ? J ournal of Asi an Studi es, Vol .XVI I I , No. 2
(May, 1959) ; T. C. Smth, Landl ords and Rural Capi tal i sts i n
theModerni zati on of J apan, J oul nal of Econol ' l i c H story,
J une, 1956 ; J . I . Nakamura,The G owth of J apanese Agncul ture
1875 1920 mW W Lockwood ed. , TheState a' i d Economc Enterpri se i
n Moderu J apal h Pri nceton, Pri ncetol l Uni versi ty Press,1965
; S. Sawada, I nnovat, i on i n J apanese Agri cul ture, i n i bi
d.
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L 4R 4E 6D6 6ZO 493and expansi on of school s As vi l l age l
andl ords they sent thei r ownchi l dren to the vi l l age school s
and hence had a di rect i nterest i n themEven when they became
absentees for one Or two generat ons theym i ntai ned cl ose l i
nks w th thei r vi l l age and the desi re tQ mai ntai n the presti
ge of the house i n the vi l l age where the faml y I nd nd
graveswere prompted many of them not o begrudge taxes d co tri buti
onsfor vi l l age school s and publ i c works 5 The l andl ords
commanded the agri cul tural surpl us I n thei rhands i t w s more
e ecti vel y tax bl e Moreover many of them usedthei r weal th i n
producti ve waysi n the educati on of thei r chi l dren andi n i
nvestment i n food processi ng and other l ocal i ndustri es I f
thi s weal thhad not been squeezed out of thei r tenants i t woul d
have been used fordi rect consumpti on l the overal hate of savings
woul d h ve been l owerand economc devel opment sl ower 6 By anal
ogy one mght argue f rom si tuat ns such as Bol i via w l erea tel
escoped Stage I Stage I I l and reform l ef t the vi l l ages
wthout smal ll andl ords and w thout a stn cture of l ocal l
eadershi p and where thereseem to have been not onl y no economc
devel opment but i n fac adecl i ne i n producti on and admni st
rati ve anarchy As agai nst these one mght set t e fol l owng
arguments for thecontrary poi nt of vi ew The l andl ords may have
brought new i deas and techni ques to thevmages but thi s advantage
was cancel l ed out by the wel l known dra wbacks of a tenancy sys
em the fact that tenants w th onl y nsecuretenure had no mot ve for
carryi ng out i mprovements w th l ongtermef ects and the fact that
the burden of rents kept them so poor thatthey coul d not af ford
the k nd of i nves ent i n for i nstance fert i zerswhi ch was most
capabl e of bri ngi ng bi g i ncreases i n producti on 2 I t i s
debatabl e wkether the tradi ti on sancti oned authori ty of thel
andl ords was a necessary condi ti on for creati ng the organi
zadonal st cture necessary to mprove agri cul tural practi ces The
tradi ti on of vi l l ageco perati on between equal s i s n ol d
one i n J a anese rural areas Therewere vi I l ages parti cul arl y
n the commerci y more devel oped areas ofcentral J apan f rom G fu
to H roshi ma where l andl ord i nf l uence was l essstrong and a
more egal i tari an type of vi l l age st cture prevai l ed
Theseareas were not notabl y sl ow i n devel op ng the cooperati
ve6 gan zati onrequi red for agri cul tural devel opment andl there
i s no reason to supposethat the more uthori tari an vi ges coul d
not h ve adapted to moreegal i t i anf si f th6i nHuence f thel and
rdswasrem vedasi nf act they di d af ter 95
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494 Th8D6 8ZO g E6 Z 85 3 The l andl ords may have i nvested
some of t he i ncome they squeezedout of thei r ten nts i n
producti ve ways but they al so consumed conspi cuousl y to some
extent i n l uxury in ported goods I f there had beel lgreater
equal i ty of vi l l age i ncomes there mght not have been as muchl
ocal i nvestment i n commerce and i ndust ry but there woul d have
beena qui cker and wder di f fusi on of popul ar educati on Many
more vi Uagersmght have sent thei r chi l dren to school for say si
x ye rs i nstead off our 4 The preempti on of l ocal formal pol i t
i cal authori ty by the l andl ordswas a l oss not a gain for agri
cul ture As soon as they were aUowedrepresentati on i n the nati
onal D et thei r I nai n i nterest was di rectedtowards reduci ng
thei r tax burden Thi s pressure on the nati onal budgetsl owed the
growth of agri cul tural research and extensi ol l servi ces and
ofthe devel opmental subsi dy system I f the voi ce of the vi l l
ages i n theD et had been the voi ce of practi si ng farmers these
thi ngs woul d nothave been negl ected 5 The pol i t i cal stabi l
i ty of the countrysi de ensured by the I and rds power was al so a
Ioss rather than a gai n I f the l emand forpol i t i cal parti ci
pati on had bui l t up to revol uti onary proporti ons
beforeconcessi ons were contempl ated and a real revol uti on had
taken pl acethere mght earl i er have emerged a democrati c pol i t
i cal system w th agovemment real l y devqted to the cause of popul
ar wel fare I t i s i mpossi bl e to reach any de ni te concl usi
ons on thi s matter Onbal ance i t seem d cul t to bel i eve gi ven
the l evel of vi ol ence associ atedeven w th mddl ecl ass pol i t
i cs and even i n the 92 s and 93 s thata r6gi me of any stabi l i
ty or any power to pl an economc devel opmentcoul d have emerged
ffom a successful popul ar revoluti on at any ti me i n he Mei j i
peri od I t equal l y seem di cul t to bel i eve that orgal l i zat
i onaland techni cal i nnovati ol l i n the vi l l ages coul d have
proceeded as f astw thout the backi ng of tradi t i onal l andl ord
authori ty I am i ncl i ned tobel i eve that economc devel opment
woul d ave been sl ower i f there hadbeen a Stage I I l and reform
at any ti me before say 9 But the si tuat i on was al ready di eren
by 92 By then mostfarmers were l i terate and more capabl e both of
i nformng themel vesi ndi vi du y about new agri cul tural methods
and of formng the organi zati ons necessary to put them i nto
practi ce As Gal brai th has recentl ysai d nowhere i n the worl d
i s there an i l l i terate peasantry that i sprogressi ve Nowhere
i s there a l i terate peasantry that i s not More K Gal braith Eco
o o D8 Jo 7 8 R P8 8 Cambridge Mass Harvard Uni versi ty Press 963
p 49
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L 4R 7 4 4EoO 2 f6Z 8 8ZO Z6 495i mportant i f the l andl ord s
tradi ti onal authori ty h44been put to product i ve purposes i n
the Mei j peri od thi s was onl y because that authori tywas c4 4by
the tenants By 92 tenants were begi nn ng to l osethdr deferenti al
submssi venessas the growng number of di s utes overrents and the
formati on of tenant uni ons testi f y Hence by thi s t i methe
advantages of l andl ord control had al l but di sapPeared Onl y
thedi sadvantages of poor i ncenti ves and tenant poverty remained
A StageI I reform at any t i me af ter 92 woul d probabl y have
hastened economcdevel opmel l t as wel l as conduci ng to a mqre
sati sfactory i ntem pol i t i calstruc re more sati sfactory by
our presentday val ues and possi bl ymodi fyi ng J apanese extemal
pol i ci es as we L Therearetwofurtherco entsworthmaki ngonthi si
ssue Thef i rst concerns the eval uati ve i mpl i cati ons of the
fact i f i t i s a factthat the Mei j i l andl ords contri buted to
the cause of J ap nese economcdevel opment J apanese hi stori ans
are i ncHned to wri te of the I andl ordsystem i n the Mei j i peri
od as a soci l evi I n part thi s i s a backproj ecti on i nto the
past of j udgements about recent si tuat i ons but i n sofar as thi
s i s l l ot the case what woul d they make of the asserti on
thaton bal ance economc devel opment took pl ace more I api dl y w
th l al l dl ordsthan i t woul d have done wthout them One answer
whi ch woul dprobabl y be favoured by the maj ori ty i s that the
asse ti on i s wrong andthat my summary of the bal ance between the
two sets of arguments i s t faul t There i s however another answer
One can accept the assumpti on and st i l l argue that a Stage I I
I and reform was desi rabl e at a veryear stage I t may be granted
at the landl ords hel ped to hasten thepace of economc devel opment
but thi s was done at the expense ofmserabl e poverty on the part
of tenants and at the cost of preservi nga system of soci al rel
ati ons i n the vi l l ages whi ch was an a ont tohuman di gni ty I
t woul d have been better i t can be argued to havei mproved the l
ot of the Mei j i tenant even i f thi s meant a sl ower paceof
economc gr wth even i f i t meant postponi ng the arri val of tel
evi si onsets i n the vi l l ages f rom 96 to 98 to t he generati
on of those t enantsgreatgrandchi l dren rather than thei r
grandchi l dren Tl l i s i s a perfectl yv l i d argument Economc
growth i s not the onl y en i i n l i f e J usthow much sacri ce of
personal wel fare by the present generati on i sj usti ed by how
much i mproved wel fare for fut e gener ti ons i s adi cul t val ue
questi on whi ch every devel opment pl anner must face The second
comment i s thi s none shoul d try w thout very drast i cmodi cati
ons to draw f rom the hi story of Mei j i J apan the concl usi
onthat a smal l vi l ge ndl ord system i s a bene c l factor n the
i n ti a
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496 Th8 D8 l o g E o zo 65stages of economc growth and seek to
appl y thi s as a esson to thesi ul at i on of the devel opi ng
countri es today I t i s i napPropri ate as al esson f rom many
points of vi ew The popul ati on growth rate i n mostof the devel
opi ng countri es i s much hi gher than i t was i n Mei j i J
apanthus adding a new di mensi on to the probl em of rural devel
opmentCommuni cati ons techniques have improved consi derabl y maki
ng l essnecessary the i nformal i ntermedi ate pol i cy i nte reti
ng functi on of theMei j i l andl ord Many comri es have l ess need
to squeeze i ndustri alcapi tal out Q the tradi t i onal agri cul
tural sector because of mnerrevenues forei gn ai d or the taxati on
of agri cul tur exports produced bycapi tal i st pl antati ons
Above a the pol i ti cal revol uti on of the twenti ethcenturythe
new assumpti on that al l govemments ought to deri ve the rpower f
rom el ectoral consenttogether w th the devel opment of massmedi a
i n even poor comr i es has creat6d a pol i t i cal del hand for
ndreform even i n economes whi ch are characteri zed by an almost
whonysubsi stence agri cul ture Whatthi smeans i s that the t radi
t i ona 6 66f l andl ord authori tya necessary condi ti on for l
andl ords to pl ay theki l l d of useful rol e they pl ayed i n Me
j i J apanhas al ready been destroyed Soci al rel at i ons i n the
vi l l ages have of ten reached a l evel ofconH ct siml ar to that
of J apan i n the 92 s even though agri cul turaldevel opment may
remai n at J apan s 87 eveL The troubl e w th these i f questi ons
about hi story i s not onl ythat one can rarel y arri ve at sati
sfyi ng answers Even i f one ge s ananswer i t i s rare that one
can draw any si mpl e l essons f rom i t forthe sol ut on of
contemporary probl em For i f there are some senses i nwhi ch the
countri es of the worl d are moving i n di f fe ent di recti
onsrthe poor perhaps gett i ng rel at i vel y poorer and the ri ch
rel ati vel y ri cherthere are other waysi n the accumul ati ng
stock of sci enti f i c knowedgeand pol i ti cal i deas i n whi ch
the worl d as a whol e moves on
