Social Science Japan Journal Advance Access originally published online on October 13, 2006
Social Science Japan Journal 2006 9(2):221-241; doi:10.1093/ssjj/jyl030
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Social Science Japan Journal 9:221-241 (2006)
© 2006 Oxford University Press
The Making of Modern Riches: The Social Origins of the Economic Elite in the Early 20th Century
NAKAOKA Shunsuke is a former research associate at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo and currently working as a part-time lecturer at Kant
Gakuin University. His main research interests include the formation of the wealthy and business elite in modern Japan from a comparative perspective. He can be reached at the Faculty of Economics, Kant Gakuin University, 1-50-1 Mutsu’ura-Higashi, Kanazawa-Ku Yokohama 236-8501 Japan, or by e-mail at shnakaoka{at}nifty.com.
The aim of this article is to examine and analyze the social origins of the modern Japanese wealthy economic elite. The analysis in this article focuses primarily on the conditions necessary for the entry of other social groups, including the non-economic social elite and those of lower social class origins, into the economic elite. This analysis incorporates comparisons with members of the European bourgeoisie, especially in Britain and Germany. The article’s analysis shows that there was less social mobility into the world of the wealthy economic elite for some social groups within Japan. From a comparative perspective—although Japan, Britain, and Germany share similar high levels of self-recruitment—there were significant differences that were influenced by the social and historical context of each country.