Cybernetics/Systems Approach to Transformation of the Towel Production Firms in Osaka Area, Japan

Abstract

The aim of this research is to present recommendations regarding transformation of the towel industry in Osaka area so that it can grow concurrently with increasing importation of towel products. For this purpose, I undertook a cybernetics/systems approach to analysing characteristics of the industry and its current problems through a field survey. The concept of the “system” is defined as follows: an organisation that has emerged from the combination and interaction of multiple factors, existing independently of the environment. This concept can be applied not only to living organisms but also to situations where a certain industry grows in a certain area. If individual firms making up a certain industry are disappearing, we can say that the industry is having trouble in its function as a system to adapt itself to changes in the environment. The towel industry in Osaka, which is the object of this research, according to our records began in 1887, and expanded constantly until 1991, except for a period of regulation during the Second World War. 1991 was a turning point for the industry, after which the number of firms and level of production began decreasing. In February 2001, a petition was filed for implementation of the textile safeguard in conformity with WTO agreements.