전근대 일본의 경제발전과 세계체제

Abstract

Recently the world system theories are being deeply debated. I. Wallerstein and F. Braudel’s study showed that Japan’s economy which was exporting silver bar and copper was connected to European market. But Japan was external area in the world economy system. On the other hand, A. G. Frank and K. Pomeranz emphasized that economic development of China and Japan at the same period made Asia, rather than Europe, the core in the world economy. In this article, I briefly summarized Japan’s economic development in pre-modern periods especially focusing on producing and exporting of silver and copper. During the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Japan exported a huge quantity of silver and copper into the world market. Through unification and anti christian policy, Japan’s government controlled and monopolized the foreign trade. But this mining products was exported mainly by European merchant, not by Japan’s merchant. Controlled by lords, Japan’s merchant didn’t accumulate capital nor accomplished leading role in Japan’s society It is often mis-understanded that the rapid urban development in Japan at the sixteenth century was caused by the trade with Europe and growth of merchants. But It was caused by artificial unification policy and control of commercial activity. Economic development of Japan and role in the world economy was simply exaggerated in Frank’s study. Japan’s silver bar and copper in the sixteenth and seventeenth century was very important in the world market, but its influence in Japan was comparatively small. Further comparative study of Sweden’s role about copper and Japan’s mining products will lead to some interesting results.