The phenomena of Japan emerging as one of the most competitive industrial nations in the 20th century and the general shift of competitiveness to East Asia since the 1980s have been widely studied by many scholars from different fields of the social sciences. Drawing on sources from Japanese, Swiss, and American archives, this book tackles a wide range of actors and sheds light on the various processes that enabled Japanese watch companies to transfer technology and expand commercially starting in the second half of the 19th century.

Pierre-Yves Donzé is Associate Professor in business history at the Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University. His publications include History of the Swiss Watch Industry from Jacques David to Nicolas Hayek (2011) and articles in Business History, Social History of Medicine, Enterprise & Society and Business History Review.

List of figures

List of tables

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART I The birth of an industry (1850-1945)

1 The emergence and the growth of a market

2 The first steps towards industrialization (1880-1914)

3 Technological challenges (1900-1937)

4 The evolution of markets (1900-1937)

5 The main manufacturers

6 The experience of war

PART II The conquest of the world (1945-1985)

7 Technological challenges

8 The evolution of markets

9 Organization and management of the largest watch companies

PART III The Japanese watch industry since 1985

Conclusion

Appendix

Bibliography

Index