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Institute of Economic Research Hitotsubashi University
2-1 Naka, Kunitachi City,
Tokyo 186-8603, JAPAN
Tel
+81 42 580 8327
Fax
+81 42 580 8333
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The Institute of Economic Research was official founded as a research organ of Hitotsubashi University under the National Universities Foundation Law, Article 4, in 1949, with a mission to “conduct comprehensive research on the economies of Japan and the rest of the world. This section briefly outlines the history of the Institute.
The forerunner of the Institute originated in the president of Tokyo College of Commerce, Doctor of Law Ueda Teijiro’s plans to set up a research institute within the College to “conduct theoretical and empirical research on the economies of various East Asian countries". By chance, when Tokyo Fire and Marine Insurance Co., president Kagami Kanekichi, passed away in 1939, his will included a request to donate 500,000 yen to the Tokyo College of Commerce. On March 22, 1940, permission was granted to establish the “Tokyo College of Commerce Kagami Scholarship Foundation. Subsequently, a “Research Institute of East Asian Economies” was set up within the College library; it was decided that for the next 10 years, 50,000 yen per year would be provided from the Kagami fund as the operating budget for the Institute. Prof. Ueda was appointed the first Institute Director, while three professors of the College, Akamatsu Kaname, Sugimoto Eiichi, Yamanaka Atsutaro, and assistant professor Odabashi Teiju formed the four-person board of directors to help steer the Institute.
During the period, it was extremely difficult to operate an institute of social sciences, and the Institute was no exception. Especially since the budget was small but the results expected were great, the difficulties faced by the Institute were particularly formidable.
The two major guiding research principles were, “research must be empirically-grounded” and “the topics covered should not overlap with those of the departmental curricula. In consequence, research areas divided by area and industry were chosen, and the following research sections were established: 1. Statistics; 2. Population; 3. Primitive industry; 4. Light industry; 5. Chemicals industry; 6. Heavy industry (including mining); 7. Transportation; 8. Commerce (including finance, and trade).
To integrate the above research sections, a separate General Research Group was set up, and the Research Division director was appointed the chair of the Group. The Institute structure comprised of one Institute Director, and under him, four divisions--the Research Division, the Documents Division, the Statistics Division, and the Administrative Division. A director and members were appointed to each Division. Prof. Akamatsu was appointed director of the Research Division, while Prof. Sugimoto headed the Statistics Division, and Prof. Odabashi assumed the directorship of the Documents Division. The post of Administrative Division director was left vacant. Each director was responsible for guiding the technical aspects of division projects.
The centerpiece of research activities was of course the Research Division, but after three researchers were selected, no more appointments were made. To support the Division, two faculty members from the main College (a professor and an assistant professor) were given joint appointments. Amid these plans, Institute Director Ueda suddenly passed away in May 1940, and the president of Tokyo College of Commerce Prof. Takase Sotaro succeeded him as the Director of the Institute. During these years, Director Takase initiated a fundraising drive to collect operating capital from the Tokyo College of Commerce and the private sector, and in June 1942, 6 million yen collected in endowments. This money was used to establish the Tokyo College of Commerce Scholarship Foundation, with Prof. Takase serving as Foundation director. The Foundation’s principal objective was the “financial support of the activities of research institutes” and to this day, it has functioned in this capacity.
The main research projects conducted in 1941-42 were, “Characteristics of Chinese Agriculture” (Abe Genichi); “History of Japanese Flour Milling” (Izumi Mitsuyoshi); “Survey of Chinese in Japan” (Uchida Naosaku); “Research on Agricultural Production Indices for Japan, Korea, Taiwan” (Yamada Isamu), among others. Of these, Prof. Yamada’s research on agricultural production index was published as the first issue of the Institute’s research bulletin published in March 1942 (Toa Keizai Kenkyujo sosho, No.1).
Director Takase had planned for the Institute’s recognition by the government for some time, and his efforts bore fruition on February 5, 1942, when under Imperial Ordinance No.70, and governmental colleges of commerce regulations were partially revised. In the revision, the government recognized the Institute as a research organ within the Tokyo College of Commerce (i.e., a government organ), and formally defined the research objective as conducting “comprehensive research on the economies of East Asia. Under the government school system, full-time faculty included five appointments at each of the three ranks of professor, assistant professor, and researcher associate. Prof. Takase retained his post as Institute Director under the new constitution. Additionally, the Institute hired several contract Researchers using the Scholarship Foundation funds, and listed a number of faculty from College departments as joint appointments. In December 1942, the first Research Annual of the Research Institute of East Asian Economies was published.
In the postwar period, the Institute started anew along with the dramatic changes in the larger environment and revisions in various governmental regulations. On March 20, 1946, under Imperial Ordinance No.155, the Regulations for government economics universities were revised, and the “Research Institute of East Asian Economies” renamed the “Institute of Economic Research. Article 22, Clause 2 of the Regulations, defined the research objective of the Institute as “comprehensive research on the economies of the nations of the world. In August of the same year, when Director Takase retired, the president of Tokyo College of Commerce, Prof. Uehara Senroku was appointed temporary caretaker of the Institute. In March 1947, Prof. Otsuka Kinnosuke became Institute Director. One year later, in March 1948, the basic research platform was revised from the previous “industry-specific research on Asian economies” to “area-specific research on economies of the world. Under the same reforms, the existing research sections were completely reorganized into the following eight sections: 1. Classics; 2. American Economy; 3. European Economy; 4. Soviet Economy; 5. Chinese Economy; 6. Japanese Economy; 7. Statistics; and 8. Special Issues (national income, economic legislation).
In February 1949, Director Otsuka resigned, and Tokyo College of Commerce president Nakayama Ichiro was given a joint appointment as the Institute Director. In May of the same year, the government promulgated Law No. 150, a new National Universities Foundation Law, and under it, the “Institute of Economic Research, Tokyo College of Commerce” was renamed the “Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University. Its purpose was redefined as, conducting “comprehensive research on the economies of Japan and the world. In November 1949, professor of the Institute Tsuru Shigeto became the first Director selected from within the Institute.
From 1949 on, the Institute research sections have continued to grow, so that by 1977, the Institute contained 14 research sections.
As part of a two-year plan decided in 1978 aiming at the expansion and reorganization of research activities, research sections were organized into five major research sections. The plan was completed in FY 1979.
In FY2000, the Center for Economic Institutions was newly established, so that the Institute now has two affiliated research centers.
In April 2004, as part of the incorporation of national universities in Japan, the Institute was reorganized as the Institute of Economic Research affiliated with Hitotsubashi University National University Corporation.
In FY2006, the Center for Intergenerational Studies was newly established. At present, the Institute has five research sections, one visiting researcher sections, and three affiliated research centers. |
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