The Spread of Timepieces in the Meiji Period

摘要

After the opening of Japanese ports in the late Edo period, trade with Europe and America expanded. Timepieces entered the country along with other items. Over the course of the Meiji era, timepieces became the first Western consumer durable to take root in the daily life of ordinary Japanese. This point can be substantiated, as I will show in this paper, by the increase in the rate of diffusion of timepieces. Broadly speaking, the spread of timepieces was without a doubt a part of the process of Westernization referred to in Japan as "civilization and enlightenment." Specifically, this meant that the use of modern Western technology became increasingly dominant within Japanese society, and goods produced using this technology grew in number. It cannot be said, however, that this process of Westernization was equally evident through- out the society. A close look at this process reveals differences in the level and speed with which Western technologies and goods based on Western technology penetrated into Japanese society—differences which arose due to the technology itself as well as the nature of the products.