04190namaa2200745uu 4500 oapen98195 oapen 20251217011846.0 a||||fo|||||||||0| cr|mn|---annan 250216s2025a||||fo|||||||||0|eng d 9781032673240 9781032678726 9781032678733 10.4324/9781032678733 doi oapen oapen eng dc K thema KC thema KCZ thema KJ thema KJK thema KJR thema KJZ thema KN thema KNA thema KNAC thema HIRAGA, Midori edt A Business History of Soy Japan's Modernization and the Rise of Soy as a Global Commodity Taylor & Francis Routledge [Imprint] 2025 1 online resource text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Routledge International Studies in Business History Free-to-read Unrestricted online access star This is a business history of soy that reveals how Japanese imperial and military institutions and financial-mercantile-industrial interests created a role for soy as a versatile raw material and global commodity beginning in the 19th century, even before the Western world recognized this "oilseed." Originating in the rich food cultures of Asia, soy is praised as the "magic bean." About 360 million tons are produced in the world today, and it is traded globally to become food, feed, and fuel. It is the second largest source of vegetable oil in the world, and soy meal is an essential feed without which the modern livestock industries could not exist. Its dominance today is often accounted for in terms of its versatile nature. This book, however, argues that soy was transformed into a versatile industrial raw material and global commodity through the political-economic strategies of state and business actors engaged in the development of the capitalist world-economy. By studying little-known Japanese historical documents and corporate records, and focusing on the less-researched vegetable oil and industrial uses of soy, this book provides a better understanding of how this traditional Asian food was transformed into a global commodity embedded in contradictions. Promoted as a healthy and sustainable food source, soy is also a destructive cash crop whose cultivation and use have played a significant role in the current climate crisis. Based on this case of soy, the book provides a structural understanding of broader food and agriculture systems in the history of capitalism, making it of interest to students at an advanced level, academics, and researchers in the fields of business history, corporate governance, Japanese business, as well as the political economy of food and agriculture. Open licence https://oapen.org/article/rights eng Agribusiness and primary industries thema Agriculture, agribusiness and food production industries thema Business and Management thema Corporate governance: role and responsibilities of boards and directors thema Economic history thema Economics, Finance, Business and Management thema Economics thema History of specific companies / corporate history thema Industry and industrial studies thema International business thema Agriculture Asia Capitalism Food Food Regime Geopolitics International Business Japan Oil Political Economy Soy HIRAGA, Midori aut OAPEN Library. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/98195 Free-to-read: OAPEN Library/DOAB: description of the publication 0 36829 36829