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Assimilation and Industrialization: The Demand for Soap in Colonial Taiwan

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Imitation, Counterfeiting and the Quality of Goods in Modern Asian History

Part of the book series: Studies in Economic History ((SEH))

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Abstract

This chapter explores the process through which the requirement of “Assimilation into Civilization” generated the demand for modern “small things”. One characteristic of Japanese colonialism was assimilation, and the Japanese decried the Taiwanese people as “unhygienic” and required them to use bathhouses and soap on various occasions. In order to cope with the obsession that they must become “hygienic”, the Taiwanese frequented bathhouses and public baths and used soap that expressed “assimilation into Civilization”. However, most Taiwanese faced the problem that they could not afford to buy toiletry soap. That is, most Taiwanese were placed in a dilemma between the necessity for assimilation and their lack of purchasing power. In order to resolve this dilemma, the Taiwanese used laundry soap for bathing as a substitute for toiletry soap. Expanding demand for laundry soap brought about the rise of the soap industry in Taiwan, and it succeeded in eliminating Japanese imports from the market to a considerable extent. Thus, the Japanese “assimilation policy” was one of the driving forces behind Taiwanese industrialization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Konan University, 8-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada, Kobe, Hyogo, 658-8501, Japan

    Kensuke Hirai

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  1. Kensuke Hirai
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Correspondence to Kensuke Hirai .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kazuko Furuta

  2. Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan

    Linda Grove

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Hirai, K. (2017). Assimilation and Industrialization: The Demand for Soap in Colonial Taiwan. In: Furuta, K., Grove, L. (eds) Imitation, Counterfeiting and the Quality of Goods in Modern Asian History. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3752-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3752-8_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-3751-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-3752-8

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