Deceit, Piracy, and Unfair Competition: Western Perceptions of the Level of Morality in Japan

Chapter 3 considers the discourse on commercial morality as it applied to international transactions, focussing in particular on Western views of Japanese trade and commerce. The criticisms that the Japanese could not be trusted had their origins in the early days of treaty port trade and the personal experiences of Western merchants and diplomatic representatives, but they gained increasing currency from the 1890s when Westerners for the first time became subject to Japanese law. After the turn of the century, criticisms that the Japanese did not adhere to contracts, supplied substandard goods, and engaged in blatant brand and trademark fraud became increasingly widespread. Although the criticisms declined somewhat in the 1920s, the assumptions about Japanese commercial behaviour remained, to re-emerge after the Second World War. Evidence of Japan’s growing success in world trade supports the suggestion that the criticisms were, at least in part, the outcome of a fear of growing Japanese competition.