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Japan and Philippine Beer: The 1930s
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 August 2009
Extract
During the 1930s Japanese business interests increasingly believed that if and when free trade or preferential trade between the United States and the Philippines were to be terminated Japan would necessarily profit by taking over a greater share of the Philippine market. Such anticipation was particularly stimulated after the passage of the Tydings-McDuffie Act and the establishment on November 15, 1935 of the Philippine Commonwealth which was to be the transitional form of government until full independence was granted on July 4, 1946. Thus the pace of Japanese commercial activity in the Islands accelerated significantly, and Japan's economic stake expanded accordingly. The skills, the business acumen and the unstinting diligence of the Japanese all served to provide them with financial rewards from the Philippine economy. Aggressive tactics, superior organization and sufficient capital also sustained and enhanced Japanese commercial success. All of these factors were evident in the chronology of the development of a Japanese stake in the brewing of Philippine beer.
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References
1 Some Americans expressed grave concern for the future of United States-Philippine trade relations. “At least 8,000,000 of the 14,000,000 Filipinos are directly dependent upon the industries whose only market is the United States. The admitted purpose of the independence legislation is to close that market. Once it is closed, it is not to be expected that 8,000,000 Filipinos will sit down and starve, even to please the American Farm Bureau. They will sell where they can and Japan, as every investigating body has clearly reported and as even the Filipino politicians admit, offers the only outlet.” (Smith, Robert Aura, “The Philippines — For Japan?” Union, 01 24, 1938Google Scholar.)
2 Japan. Ministry of Foreign Affairs A.6.0.0.1–33–1, September 12, 1936. Secret. (Hereafter cited as “JMFA” plus file number, date and classification if given.)
3 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Sept. 18, 1936.
4 Ibid.
5 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Sept. 19, 1936. Secret.
6 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Sept. 30, 1936. Secret.
7 Ibid.
8 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Oct. 2, 1936. Secret.
9 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Oct. 7, 1936.
10 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Nov. 6, 1936. Secret.
11 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Nov. 9, 1936.
12 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Oct. 14, 1936. Secret.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 JMFA A.6.0.0.1–33–1, Oct. 10, 1936.
17 The Commonwealth Advocate, Dec., Second Half, 1936.
18 Appropriately Aguinaldo died on a visit to Tokyo, April 28, 1958. Aguinaldo was often called the “Merchant King” of the Philippines just as his friends Gonzalo Puyat and Toribio Teodoro were refered to as the “Furniture King” and the “Slipper King” respectively. All three were prominent leaders in the NEPA, and all three had close personal and business ties with the Japanese.
19 Quoted in Price, Willard, “Japan in the Philippines.” The Commonwealth Advocate, 08, First Half, 1936Google Scholar.
20 Papers of Manuel L. Quezon, National Library, Manila, Philippines. Letter of M. Kobayashi, President, Balintawak Beer Brewery Co., Inc. to Mrs. Emilia de Angara, Housekeeper of Malcacanang Palace, May 13, 1940.
21 By 1938 there were 350 Japanese-owned shops throughout the Philippines. Watanabe, K., “History of Japanese Trade in the Philippines” The Philippine-Japanese Yearbook and Business Directory, Vol. 1 (Manila: M. Farolan, 1938), 324Google Scholar.