Development of agricultural co-operatives in Japan (III) : Historical perspective of co-operative development

この論文では,徳川封建体制から現在までの期間におけるわが国農協発展史を論じる。この中には伝統的なものから近代的なものまでが含まれている。この目的のために,われわれはその歴史を,徳川期における展開,1929年大恐慌以前の初期的努力,世界大戦間における協同組合運動の変化,第2次大戦後における再生努力,という4つの局面に分割している。これら4局面を跡づけることによって,われわれは農協発展の歴史が政府主導型協同組合のそれであったと結論できる。農協に対する政府の支援は,農協とその組合員が深刻な経済的困難に直面し,それを乗り越えようとする時に起こった。しかしながら,農協に対する政府の支援はごく初期に限られるべきだという意向があるにもかかわらず,政府の支援は半永久的な性格を持っている。この悪い習慣は直ちに排除しなければならない。わが国における最初の協同組合法が制定されてちょうど一世紀を経た現在,協同組合原則にもとづく新しい進路を見出す必要がある。In this paper, we attempt to discuss the history of agricultural co-operatives in Japan during the period from the Tokugawa regime until today, including traditional and modern co-operative movements. For this purpose, we divide the history into four phases; evolution of the Tokugawa period, early effort before the Great Depression in 1929, changes in movement during the interwar period, and reconstruction effort during the post-war period. By tracing these four phases, we can conclude that the development is described as a history of government-sponsored co-operatives. The government assistance to co-operatives took place when co-operatives and their members were trying to overcome serious economic difficulties. However, despite the intention to limit governmental help to co-operatives to the initial phase, government assistance has become a permanent feature. This bad custom should be eradicated as soon as possible. At present, just one century after the enactment of the first co-operative law in Japan, it is necessary to seek a new path based on the co-operative principles