1950年代日本のエネルギー政策 : 重油消費規制を中心に

概要

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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of Japan's energy policy during the 1950s. The paper focuses on the policy to protect the domestic coal industry through regulating crude oil consumption as it was actually carried out in the period from 1954 to 1960. Two main characteristics were found. First, the government consistently encouraged firms to save energy, for example by means of the netsukanri (heat control) policy. Since switching energy from coal to crude oil was very effective in netsukanri, from the outset the regulation of heavy oil consumption was not tough. Second, in the second half of 1956, the government predicted that Japan's energy consumption would increase rapidly in the near future. It therefore made a variety of advance provisions in order to increase Japan's ability to import crude oil, despite the fact that it was more expensive than domestic coal. At the same time, the regulation of crude oil consumption grew progressively weaker, so that it was virtually nonexistent by 1960. Because of these characteristics, the protection of the domestic coal industry was a marginal aspect of Japan's overall energy policy. Further, Japan's energy revolution was faster and more comprehensive than similar processes in European countries.
社会経済史学会の論文
2005-03-25