Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers

The Dairying Industry of Japan George H. Kakiuchi and Kazuo Ninomiya* Japan's agricultural sector has undergone significant changes in recent years as the nation continues to industrialize and modernize successfully.1 One of the most remarkable changes has been the development of the dairying industry—a part of the general trend toward a more commercially oriented agriculture. Changes in the agricultural land use reflect the rising standard of living and the improvement in the diet of the people. As in all nations which have become relatively modernized, the percentage of starchy foods in the diet has declined as the percentage of animal protein has risen,2 in part because of the increase in the growing consumption of milk and other dairy products. Per capita consumption of raw milk has increased from 8.5 grams per day before World War II to 100 grams in 1965, the highest rate of increase among the major categories of food consumed in Japan.3 ß Dr. Kakiuchi is an Associate Professor of Geography at The University of Washington, Seattle 98105. This article, presented at the 1968 meeting of the Association at Bellingham, is based on field work in Japan during 1963-1964 when Dr. Kakiuchi was a Fulbright Lecturer. Preparation of the manuscript was supported by the Far Eastern and Russian Institute, University of Washington . Mr. Ninomiya is a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington. 1 The per capita income increased from 290 dollars in 1955 to about 745 dollars in 1966. Between 1960 and 1965, the average rate of real growth of Japan's gross national product was 9.2 percent. This compares very well with 5.1 percent for Italy and Canada, 4.8 for West Germany, and 4.7 percent for the United States. Office of the Prime Minister, Statistical Handbook of Japan, (Tokyo: Bureau of Statistics, 1967, p. 95) and Tsuneta Yano Memorial Society, Nippon: A Charted Survey of Japan, (Tokyo: Kokusei-sha, 1967), p. 61. 2 "Japan's Agriculture Today," Japan Report, Vol. 13, No. 3, February 15, 1967, p. 3. 3 Statistical Handbook of Japan, op. cit., p. 117; Yoshio Ogino, "The Dairy Industry," Japan Quarterly, Vol. X, January-March 1963, p. 107; James C. Frink, "Big Gains Seen for Japan's Food Needs Over Next Decade," Foreign Agriculture, Sept. 25, 1967, p. 15. 23 24ASSOCIATION OF PACIFIC COAST GEOGRAPHERS The improvement in the diet has caused a shift in the relative importance of agricultural crops and products.4 Generally, the total production of cereals has remained the same or decreased, whereas those for vegetables and especially for fruits, industrial crops, and livestocks and their products have risen rapidly. For example, the production of milk increased from 277,000 metric tons in 1935 to 3,414,000 metric tons in 1966.5 Historical Development Although keeping milk cows on farms in modern Japan began with the Meiji Restoration of 1867, it continued to be an isolated phenomenon for some years thereafter. Milk was consumed more for medicinal purposes than as a part of the general diet. The taste for dairy products developed slowly and became significant only in recent years. However, as an aspect of modernization, the government began to encourage the keeping of milk cows. Initially they were imported and introduced at the peripheries of large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, where milk factories rather than dairy farms were established. These factories were managed by city milk distributors, not by farmers. Thus, in contrast to Western countries, the raising of milk cows did not evolve around the idea of a dairying industry but that of a milking industry. This situation continued into the mid-1920's, and thus most of the animals were concentrated in and around the large urban centers.6 But the keeping of milk cows by farmers spread slowly. The animals were kept strictly as a side-business to rice growing. Milk cows, usually one or two per farm, were scattered about widely and collection of milk was a serious problem. The purchase of the animals was 4 If 1960 is taken as 100, then the production indices in 1965 were 96.8 for rice, 69.5 for wheat, barley, and oats...