第14回　世界商品の登場（２）：砂糖

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

• Sugar as a “global commodity” that tracks economic development

  • While Japan’s sugar consumption is decreasing (health/diet trends and reduced sweets), the lecture stresses a general rule: sugar consumption often rises with economic development.
  • Contrasting patterns in Asia:
    • Rapid growth in sugar consumption in China and India (and Southeast Asia).
    • In more developed countries, sugar consumption tends to decrease.

• Historical impact of sugar on humans

  • Sweetness creates strong pleasure and can act as an easily digestible calorie source.
  • Before sugar became widely available, people obtained sweetness from fruit and honey, but sugar provides sweetness that directly affects the brain.
  • Sugar’s origin is tied to sugarcane (the lecture mentions South Pacific origins such as New Guinea or India, and how cultivation/technology spread across Asia).

• Sugar’s expansion tied to industrialization and new production scale

  • In Europe, sugar becomes prominent as people consume it heavily in settings like:
    • Tea among factory workers during/after the Industrial Revolution
    • Coffeehouses in cities like London
  • Production scale grows, and the lecture highlights the darker side:
    • Plantations in South America and the southern U.S.
    • Use of enslaved labor from Africa to expand sugar cultivation

• Types of sugar (and where they’re produced)

  • The lecture surveys common sugar sources, including:
    • Sugarcane sugar (most common)
    • Sugar beet sugar (cooler/cold regions; mentions Hokkaido as an example)
    • Other sweeteners: palm sugar, maple syrup, and various regional sugars (e.g., in Japan such as Wasanbon, plus other named Japanese varieties)

• How sugar production technology spread within Asia

  • A key pattern is technology transfer (variety selection, cultivation, extraction methods) associated with movement of people and networks.
  • China is described as a major early center, especially from roughly the 17th to 19th centuries, with Chinese sugar becoming an important Asian agricultural product.

• Japan’s role in Asian sugar markets

  • Starting around the 19th century, the lecture argues Japan helped trigger major structural changes.
  • It emphasizes colonial and imperial connections, especially:
    • Japan’s sugar development in Taiwan (as Japan shifts to building a sugar supply chain within the empire)
    • The need to balance sugar production with food needs (the “rice problem”: producing sugar can impoverish residents if rice priority isn’t met)

• 19th–early 20th century shift: from traditional labor/ox cultivation to modern factory production

  • The lecture contrasts:
    • Traditional sugar production relying on human/ox power
    • A major shift after the 19th century toward mass production using European/American technology (e.g., steam-powered presses to extract sugar)

• Southeast Asia as a “division of labor” system under colonial-capitalist expansion

  • Southeast Asia is framed as supplying raw materials for overseas-based industrial production chains.
  • Example focus: Java under Dutch colonial rule
    • Forced cultivation under Dutch policy beginning around 1830
    • System change in 1870 via the Land Law and Sugar Law, enabling private capital and expanding private plantations
    • Water/land changes reduce rice production, increasing rice imports (and linking to intra-Asian trade with regions such as Burma/Siam)

• Different colonial export targets: Java vs the Philippines

  • Java
    • Initially tied to European/American markets, later increasingly oriented toward Asia (especially in the 20th century).
  • Philippines
    • More strongly tied to the United States (described as a monopolistic/trade arrangement with low U.S. taxes and imports)
    • Plantation structure varies by region:
      • Large land plots with wage labor (especially Negros Island)
      • A land-sharing model on other islands/regions (profits partially distributed to local government)
    • Large land ownership can widen economic disparity

• Inter-Asian market restructuring (Hong Kong, Japan, and Java’s role)

  • The lecture describes a restructuring as:
    • Hong Kong becomes a British colony and builds sugar factories using imported Java raw materials
    • Japanese sugar processing expands as Taiwan raw materials are treated as insufficient
    • Combined effect: China’s traditional sugar production networks face pressure as factory-produced sugar flows into markets
  • It highlights changing trade patterns:
    • Exports from Japan to China grow between 1902 and 1913
    • Java supplies raw materials to both Japan and Hong Kong, feeding processing and re-exporting chains

• Impact of the Great Depression (“Great Pope” in subtitles, but clearly referring to 1929 era)

  • Around 1929, the lecture says protectionism rises:
    • High taxes to protect domestic industries, targeting major export markets (notably India and China).
    • Japan’s competitive advantage (cheap goods due to currency/value changes) triggers retaliation and negotiated attempts that fail.
  • Resulting economic consequences:
    • Sugar exports decline sharply (in volume and price)
    • Colonies face surplus, leading cultivation shifts away from sugarcane toward rice and strategies to reduce foreign currency outflows
  • The Philippines is described as relatively more protected due to U.S. policy, helping it maintain the American market longer.

• World War II and postwar reversal

  • The lecture describes major damage to production systems in Indonesia and the Philippines due to war effects.
  • Postwar outcomes:
    • Indonesia: sugar production becomes insufficient; imports rise; exports collapse (domestic-only state-run production; no export capacity).
    • Philippines: continued U.S. protectionist dynamics until 1974, after which exports stagnate.
    • Japan: after lagging technologically, it later invests in postwar modernization and becomes a major exporter again.

• Postwar “three major changes” in sugar production

  • The lecture explicitly summarizes three stages:
    1. Traditional sugar industry
    2. Modern, large-scale production methods from late 19th to 20th century (factory/steam tech; colonial plantations)
    3. A new post-war form (rebuilding, modernization, policy support—especially in Japan)

• Closing lesson

  • Sugar is treated as an everyday item, but the lecture urges viewers to think about:
    • Where it comes from
    • What kind of sugar (and production system) it is
    • And to “enjoy sweets while reflecting on history.”

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Methodology / instructions (if present)

• Viewing/class logistics

  • Watch the video as the 14th project because the class is remote due to the instructor’s location (Akita).

• Assignment submission

  • After class, assignments will be posted on Manaba; students should fill and submit there.

• Optional reading

  • Suggested references/books are listed at the end (see Sources/Speakers section).

No step-by-step “how-to” methodology for sugar production is provided; it is mostly historical explanation.

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Speakers / sources featured (as named in the subtitles)

Speaker(s)

• Honemanda / 本間（Honemand’s class） instructor
  • Primary lecturer; the specific name is not explicitly stated in the subtitles.

Books / author references mentioned

• Kawakita Mi — The World History of Sugar (listed at the bottom of the reference list)
• Kensuke Hirai — Sugar Empire (from a Taiwanese perspective)