I’m writing a story and can’t seem to find any information on it.
Chosen Answer:
1920s Japan was a cycle of booming and busting. A lot of industrialization was starting and Japanese were moving toward western tastes in clothing, food and life. However, there was a big gap between the cities and countryside. Labour movements were quite rampant with workers demanding fair wages and work conditions. Farmers in Japan were under a lot of pressure. Japan used to have a system called Kosaku, which meant the farmer was given the right to farm a piece of land as long as they give 1/3 to 1/2 of the crop. Often this was 1/3 to 1/2 of what could technically be grown, so if there was a bad growing season, the farmer would be indebted to the land owner. It also didn’t help that with industrialization and militarism, prices for rice and crops increased substantially, but often just meant farmers staying in debt, and then not being able to buy the crops they grow. Many farmers were trying to unionize and change this.
This lead to riots and incidents such as the 1918 riots in Toyama (sorry a little outside 1920s, but this is one of the most famous ones). Also there was quite a big political divide. Leftist movements were quite rampant, but the imperial government did not want any of that. It was quite common for people to be labeled an “Aka” or “Red; as in communist. And in traditional Japan, being labeled that often meant being shunned. So for wealthy people, it would have probably meant dealing with disgruntled subservants.
A major event was the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. This earthquake killed more than 100000 people and basically destroyed the entire city of Tokyo. Destruction was so massive that the government even considered moving the capital city. It didn’t help that much of the city was built with wooden structures, spreading the flames. Despite the destruction, the city quickly built up again next year. But that also meant a lot of people even the wealthy had to start from scratch again. A lot of aid actually came in to Tokyo from the rest of the world.
I think you will do better looking online at some resources. There are quite a bit of information online.
by: takuwan_199
on: 5th February 13