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February 5, 2026
u:japan lectures - Kentaro Asai: "The Consequences of Hometown Regiment: What Happened in Hometown When the Soldiers Never Returned?"
From: u:japan lectures : Department of East Asian Studies : University of Vienna <ujapanlectures.
Date: 2026/01/16
Dear Colleagues,
The Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna would like to draw your attention to the upcoming hybrid u:japan lecture:
Kentaro Asai (Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Austria):
"The Consequences of Hometown Regiment: What Happened in Hometown When the Soldiers Never Returned?"
Date and time: Thursday, January 22, 2026, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)
Location: Onsite @ Campus of the University of Vienna Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies room JAP 1 (2K-EG-21), University Campus
Hof 2.4, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
https://japanologie.univie.ac.
Online: Join the lecture via Zoom (no registration necessary):
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/
Meeting-ID: 680 5935 3500 | Passcode: 532744
Abstract: Wars often reshape economic structures through the destruction of physical capital and institutional change, yet less is known about how the loss of human capital affects postwar economic development. During the Second World War, Japan lost approximately two million soldiers, the vast majority of whom were young males. This constituted a sizable shock to the gender composition of local labor markets, as these losses amounted to nearly 10 percent of the working-age male population.
The Japanese Imperial Army adopted a hometown regiment system, under which military regiments were organized at the prefectural level, meaning that soldiers within the same regiment came from the same prefecture. U.S. counterattacks in the Pacific Islands--where most Japanese military deaths occurred--resulted in large differences in casualty rates across regiments. Consequently, wartime losses were highly uneven across prefectures. These institutional features generated substantial and persistent geographic variation in postwar gender ratios.
Exploiting changes in gender ratios across cohorts and prefectures, this study examines how the permanent loss of young males influenced postwar industrial structure. On the one hand, local economies may adjust to gender imbalances by reallocating labor toward sectors that rely more heavily on female workers. On the other hand, market forces such as technological adaptation and internal migration may act as restoring mechanisms, offsetting the initial shock over time. To assess these competing forces, we use newly digitized Population Census data covering the period from 1920 to 1980.
Our empirical results indicate that prefectures experiencing larger declines in the male population saw a reduction in the employment share of manufacturing, accompanied by increases in agriculture and services. Quantitatively, however, these effects were modest and largely dissipated within approximately 15 years after the war. This pattern suggests that changes in gender composition slowed the process of industrialization in the short run, but did not permanently alter the long-run industrial structure.
We further examine implications for women's employment. Female labor supply increased significantly in response to male losses, and the share of female workers rose across all sectors. These findings are consistent with adjustments in production technology or factor intensity to accommodate a relatively more abundant labor factor. In contrast to the effects on industrial structure, we find that these changes persisted at least into the 1980s.
For more information on the speaker and future events at u:japan, please follow the link below:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.
We look forward to your participation!
Hanno Jentzsch, Lola Moreau, Anna-Maria Stabentheiner, Ralf Windhab and Julian Wollinger
PS: If you missed a lecture or want to review, head to our recorded lectures section:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.
u:japan lectures
Department of East Asian Studies / Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna
E-mail: ujapanlectures.ostasien@
Kindly sponsored by the Toshiba International Foundation:
https://www.toshibafoundation.
The Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna would like to draw your attention to the upcoming hybrid u:japan lecture:
Kentaro Asai (Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Austria):
"The Consequences of Hometown Regiment: What Happened in Hometown When the Soldiers Never Returned?"
Date and time: Thursday, January 22, 2026, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)
Location: Onsite @ Campus of the University of Vienna Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies room JAP 1 (2K-EG-21), University Campus
Hof 2.4, Spitalgasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
https://japanologie.univie.ac.
Online: Join the lecture via Zoom (no registration necessary):
https://univienna.zoom.us/j/
Meeting-ID: 680 5935 3500 | Passcode: 532744
Abstract: Wars often reshape economic structures through the destruction of physical capital and institutional change, yet less is known about how the loss of human capital affects postwar economic development. During the Second World War, Japan lost approximately two million soldiers, the vast majority of whom were young males. This constituted a sizable shock to the gender composition of local labor markets, as these losses amounted to nearly 10 percent of the working-age male population.
The Japanese Imperial Army adopted a hometown regiment system, under which military regiments were organized at the prefectural level, meaning that soldiers within the same regiment came from the same prefecture. U.S. counterattacks in the Pacific Islands--where most Japanese military deaths occurred--resulted in large differences in casualty rates across regiments. Consequently, wartime losses were highly uneven across prefectures. These institutional features generated substantial and persistent geographic variation in postwar gender ratios.
Exploiting changes in gender ratios across cohorts and prefectures, this study examines how the permanent loss of young males influenced postwar industrial structure. On the one hand, local economies may adjust to gender imbalances by reallocating labor toward sectors that rely more heavily on female workers. On the other hand, market forces such as technological adaptation and internal migration may act as restoring mechanisms, offsetting the initial shock over time. To assess these competing forces, we use newly digitized Population Census data covering the period from 1920 to 1980.
Our empirical results indicate that prefectures experiencing larger declines in the male population saw a reduction in the employment share of manufacturing, accompanied by increases in agriculture and services. Quantitatively, however, these effects were modest and largely dissipated within approximately 15 years after the war. This pattern suggests that changes in gender composition slowed the process of industrialization in the short run, but did not permanently alter the long-run industrial structure.
We further examine implications for women's employment. Female labor supply increased significantly in response to male losses, and the share of female workers rose across all sectors. These findings are consistent with adjustments in production technology or factor intensity to accommodate a relatively more abundant labor factor. In contrast to the effects on industrial structure, we find that these changes persisted at least into the 1980s.
For more information on the speaker and future events at u:japan, please follow the link below:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.
We look forward to your participation!
Hanno Jentzsch, Lola Moreau, Anna-Maria Stabentheiner, Ralf Windhab and Julian Wollinger
PS: If you missed a lecture or want to review, head to our recorded lectures section:
https://japanologie.univie.ac.
u:japan lectures
Department of East Asian Studies / Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna
E-mail: ujapanlectures.ostasien@
Kindly sponsored by the Toshiba International Foundation:
https://www.toshibafoundation.
Approved by ssjmod at 02:25 PM