Japanese Unskilled Wages in International Perspective, 1741–1913

Constructing consumption baskets for the benchmark periods 1745–1754 and 1882–1886, and price indices, we calculate real wages for Japanese unskilled daily laborers in 1741–1913. Matching caloric content and protein contents in our Japanese consumption baskets with those for Europe, we compare Japanese and European urban real wages. Real wages in Kyoto and later Tokyo are about a third London wages but comparable to wages in major Southern and Central European cities for 1700–1900. In Japan, wages are substantially higher in the Meiji period than in the Tokugawa period. These findings have implications for the debate on conditions in Europe and Asia on the eve of the Industrial Revolution.