The Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce orTrade (農商務省,Nō-shōmu-shō) was acabinet-level ministry in the government of theEmpire of Japan from 1881 to 1925.^[1] It was briefly recreated as theMinistry of Agriculture and Commerce (農商省,Nōshō-shō) duringWorld War II.

The original Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce was created on April 7, 1881, initially under the MeijiDaijō-kan Cabinet, and then re-established under theMeiji Constitution. It combined the Bureaus of Agriculture, Forestry, Natural History andpost station maintenance which were formerly directly under thePrime Minister with the Bureau of Commerce formerly under the control of theMinistry of Finance. The new Ministry was tasked by theMeiji oligarchy with improving production of natural resources and promoting the rapid industrialization of Japan. Although nominally its duties included the protection of workers, in reality it served the needs of industry by guaranteeing a stable labor supply.^[2] On December 25, 1885, with the abolishment of theMinistry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce gained the Bureau of Mines and the Bureau of Civil Engineering. On April 1, 1896 a decision was made to denationalize the iron and steel industry. All government-owned steel mills were divested to private enterprise by February 5, 1901.

The Ministry was instrumental in passing the Japanese Factory Act of 1903, which reformed and regulated labor conditions in factories. On April 1, 1925, the Ministry of Agriculture and Commence was divided into theMinistry of Agriculture and Forestry and theMinistry of Commerce and Industry. The division was a result of long-standing acrimony within the ministry between the "commerce" portion of the ministry, which sought expanded overseas trade, and theprotectionist "agriculture" portion of the ministry which sought to ban imports of food, especially rice. In the aftermath of theRice Riots of 1918, expanded imports of rice into Japan financially ruined many farmers, and the inherently conflicting goals of the two halves of the ministry became apparent.

However, duringWorld War II, theMinistry of Munitions,Ministry of Transport and Communications [ja] and thePlanning Board [ja] absorbed most of the functions of the Ministry of Commerce, and the vestigial remains were merged with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to re-establish the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce on November 1, 1943. In addition to promoting agriculture, the re-formed ministry was also in charge of distribution of rationed goods.

The Ministry was abolished on August 26, 1945, after thesurrender of Japan by order of theSupreme Commander of the Allied Powers. In the post-warShowa Constitution, the ministries were again divided into the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Commerce.

• Agriculture in the Empire of Japan

• Harari, Ehud (1073).The Politics of Labor Legislation in Japan. University of California Press.ISBN 0-520-02264-5.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)

• Former government ministries of Japan
• Government of the Empire of Japan
• 1881 establishments in Japan
• 1945 disestablishments in Japan

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• Short description matches Wikidata
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• CS1 errors: ISBN date