Marketing the Word: Publishing Entrepreneurs in Meiji Japan, 1870-1912

In the late nineteenth century, Japan underwent a dramatic publishing revolution. After centuries of printing with woodblocks and hand-made washi, Japanese publishing suddenly shifted to printing presses and industrial pulp paper. Between 1870 and 1910, annual book production in Japan nearly doubled every ten years. This leap was accompanied by the birth of the newspaper and the magazine, the expansion of national distribution networks, and the expansion of the reading public. By the turn of the century, Japan boasted a powerful publishing industry and print culture that rivaled those of many contemporary societies in the West. The Meiji transition was not driven by the printing press alone. This thesis highlights the complex interaction among aggressive publishing entrepreneurs, changing markets for print culture, and new public institutions of the Meiji era. Japanese entrepreneurs took the primary initiatives that developed the publishing industry. Amid growing national concern over the threat of Western domination, Japanese publishers in the 1860s and 1870s began to exploit a growing demand for news and printed information. These publishers' innovations depended heavily on rapidly-changing technologies. New publishing markets were also closely connected to institutions sponsored by the new Meiji state, such as the school system and postal service, which promoted literacy and extended distribution of publications. The Meiji state had strong political and economic interests in building a literate citizenry and a solid publishing infrastructure. Yet the state often found itself at odds with the aims of the publishing industry, which was primarily concerned with expanding markets to reach more consumers. The history of Meiji Japan's new publishing markets and print consumers cannot be explained apart from the Japanese entrepreneurs who developed the know-how and organizations required to exploit them. By analyzing changes in publishing manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and consumption, this thesis shows how entrepreneurs played a central role in molding Japanese publishing and the printed word into a powerful force of change in Meiji Japan.