Mitsui Bussan and the Manchurian soybean trade: Geopolitics and economic strategies in China’s Northeast, ca. 1870s–1920s

Mizuno, Hiromi; Prodöhl, Ines

doi:10.1080/00076791.2019.1687688

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 24 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Soybean oil began to be used as a cooking oil and for lubrication and lighting. Soybean cake was employed as nitrogen-rich fertilizer across Eastern Asia (Mizuno and Prodöhl, 2019; Shaw, 1911). Northeast China began exporting significant tonnages of soybean cake for sugarcane plantations in Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Fujian and cotton production in the Lower Yangzi River, particularly after the Qing rulers had lifted restrictions on grain exports in 1772 (Fu, 2018: 23).…”

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first truly global soybean trade regime emerged at the turn of the twentieth century when Northeast China, or “Manchuria”, a term now associated with imperialist ambitions (Tamanoi, 2000), became the center of imperialist interventions with Russia and Japan struggling for spheres of influence (Hiraga, 2017; Mizuno and Prodöhl, 2019). Several strategic assets in the region fell under Japanese control.…”

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The nitrogen-rich cake alleviated shortages of fish manure as coastal herring stocks were being depleted (Fu, 2018: 24). Japanese trading companies successfully navigated the geopolitical tensions in the region and also used the Russian-controlled railway systems and export hubs for their operations (Mizuno and Prodöhl, 2019).…”

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the outset of World War II, the GSC began to be transformed radically. Attempts by Chinese warlords to push Japanese companies out of the soybean business contributed to the launch of a false-flag attack on the railway system providing pretext for the subsequent invasion of the region by the Kwantung Army (Mizuno and Prodöhl, 2019; Young, 2017). However, with the creation of Manchuko as a Japanese puppet state, the Northeastern soybean rush began to fade.…”

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

From railroad imperialism to neoliberal reprimarization: Lessons from regime-shifts in the Global Soybean Complex

Mempel,

Corbera,

Labajos

et al. 2023

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Soybeans are ubiquitous in the global food system. As a major forest risk commodity, they are also at the heart of efforts to untangle the dynamics of land use change and associated impacts resulting from distant drivers. However, land system science has so far largely ignored the historically and socially embedded nature of these entanglements. This results in snapshot-like representations relying on neoclassical approaches to production and consumption. Here, we trace the evolution of the global soybean complex (GSC) since the late nineteenth century. We analyze how in the context of external developments soybeans have been channeled into different provisioning systems. This has occurred in a series of socio-ecological fixes, facilitated by socio-technological innovations and public sector interventions, motivated by different impediments to capital accumulation. Today, several emerging socio-technological practices promise to transform the GSC towards sustainability. We argue that the contemporary GSC inherits defining properties from the past, particularly the postwar strategy of using industrial animal farming to add value to surplus grains and oilseeds. The expanding GSC is therefore not merely a result of increasing demand, but rather the outcome of different provisioning systems’ continued dependence on soybeans. Future transitions will depend on public interventions and the influence of vested interest in current socio-metabolic patterns.

show abstract

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Regime Shifts In the Gscmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

From railroad imperialism to neoliberal reprimarization: Lessons from regime-shifts in the Global Soybean Complex

Mempel,

Corbera,

Labajos

et al. 2023

Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With the rapid development of soybean cultivation in modern Northeast China, soybeans have become a landmark product in its agricultural economic history. Soybean export trade in Northeast China once occupied a Land 2023, 12, 2090 2 of 29 core position globally [2], especially in the first 30 years of the 20th century [3]. Subsequently, factors such as the rise of soybean production in the United States, the promotion of fertilizers in Japan, the Great Depression, and the outbreak of the Second World War led to the gradual decline and eventual collapse of the soybean industry in Northeast China [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Soybean Production in Heilongjiang Province, China

Wang,

Ma,

Luo

2023

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Heilongjiang Province, as the largest production and supply base for high-quality soybeans in China, plays a vital role in optimizing the layout of soybean production and promoting the revitalization of the soybean industry. Soybean yield is used as a key indicator of soybean production. This study integrated soybean yield data from agricultural reclamation systems and local authorities. A variety of statistical analysis methods, such as barycenter analysis, the Mann–Kendall test, the space–time cube, and grey relational analysis, were used to research the spatiotemporal evolution and influencing factors of soybean production in Heilongjiang Province from 2011 to 2021. This paper revealed the spatiotemporal evolution mechanism and explored the reasons for the differences in the effects of influencing factors. The results were as follows. (1) During the period between 2011 and 2021, the center of gravity of county-level soybean yield in Heilongjiang Province moved towards the northwest over a distance of 16.82 km. The soybean yield in the province experienced a mutation in approximately 2018, from a downward trend to an upward trend. (2) The spatiotemporal hot spots of county-level soybean yield in Heilongjiang Province were concentrated along the line from Hailun to Aihui. The types of hot spots included consecutive hot spots, intensifying hot spots, sporadic hot spots, and new hot spots. (3) The spatiotemporal agglomeration patterns of county-level soybean yield in Heilongjiang Province included only high-high clusters, only low-low clusters, only high-low outliers and multiple types. (4) The temporal changes in soybean yield in various counties of Heilongjiang Province had obvious regional characteristics. (5) Socioeconomic factors had aftereffects on soybean planting decisions. (6) Sunlight hours, the price ratio of local soybeans to local maize, average temperature, the number of soybean patents, the price ratio of imported soybeans to local soybeans, soybean cultivation income, local soybean prices, and the number of newly established soybean enterprises were primary influencing factors. Precipitation and soybean import volume were secondary influencing factors. The income difference between maize and soybeans, crops-hitting disaster area, and maize yield were general influencing factors. This study aims to offer new pathways for alleviating the structural contradiction between soybean supply and demand and to provide a reference for the formulation of national soybean industry policies and food security strategies.

show abstract

Marketing the Multinational in Shenbao, Shanghai, 1872–1889

Ville¹

2022

Enterp. Soc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in China, especially during the nineteenth century, have attracted less interest from historians than Chinese firms and expatriate merchant houses. However, in this period, MNEs shaped advertising in Shenbao, China’s most vital modern Chinese-language newspaper. Through our examination of the advertisements they placed during the newspaper’s first phase of publication, 1872–1889, we argue that MNEs were more significant to the history of business in China than heretofore recognized. We contend that they influenced Chinese print media advertising by pioneering product differentiation and branding in this newspaper. They did so, we suggest, because this approach to marketing, which differed from those used by most other foreign and Chinese domestic advertisers, provided a competitive advantage to overcome their liability of foreignness, and was facilitated by their global reach in the form of knowledge flows from offshore bases to onshore branches.

show abstract

Mitsui Bussan and the Manchurian soybean trade: Geopolitics and economic strategies in China’s Northeast, ca. 1870s–1920s

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

From railroad imperialism to neoliberal reprimarization: Lessons from regime-shifts in the Global Soybean Complex

From railroad imperialism to neoliberal reprimarization: Lessons from regime-shifts in the Global Soybean Complex

Spatiotemporal Evolution and Influencing Factors of Soybean Production in Heilongjiang Province, China

Marketing the Multinational in Shenbao, Shanghai, 1872–1889

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About