Pyrethrum in Japan: a history of rise and fall, 1880s–1960s

This thesis explores the history of pyrethrum in Japan between the 1880s, when the plant was introduced to the country, and the 1960s, when commercial pyrethrum cultivation withered as synthetic insecticides became increasingly widespread. This is the first English-language academic account that traces pyrethrum’s history in Japan over an extended period and links it to historiographical discussions on empire, trade, and science, technology, and medicine. Some existing histories of insecticides offer US-centric narratives that celebrate the unparalleled efficacy of the synthetic chemical DDT. Its uptake during World War II is portrayed as a turning point from traditional, natural insecticides to modern, synthetic ones. This narrative has obscured pyrethrum’s importance for Japan in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focussing on Japan and its Asian empire, this thesis presents a history of insecticides that complements and complicates existing Western-centric accounts.

This thesis argues that the ebbs and flows of pyrethrum cultivation in Japan were shaped by preoccupations with increased agricultural productivity, military efficiency, and trade expansion — preoccupations that were inextricably bound up with Japan’s modernisation. The salience of these preoccupations shifted over time, with different concerns coming to the fore at different historical moments. Locating the history of pyrethrum within broader social, political, and economic currents — both within and outside of Japan — helps us understand that it was ultimately Japan’s drive to modernise that spurred the nation’s rise as the largest producer and exporter of the crop. This thesis also contends that agriculture, which is sometimes seen as contrary to modernisation, deserves a more conspicuous role in the narratives of Japan’s modernisation and industrialisation. While these narratives often spotlight heavy industries, the case of pyrethrum demonstrates that the formation of Japan’s capital-intensive, industrial economy was assisted by profits from agricultural exports.