Japanese Silk Factories Dbq Analysis

DBQ By: Zayn Khan
During the Japanese Industrial Revolution in the mid-1900’s, there were many factors that came into play when thinking about the costs,and benefits of working in a silk factory. Young and old women would work at the factories to support their families, but at the same time, they were working for very long hours with very minimal breaks, and around risky areas that were prone to illness. Although the benefits can be argued to be worth it, the costs outweigh them because they (the benefits) have countless downsides, the main being, hours, wages, and labor contracts.
Fourteen hours is how long the workers were kept on the job. They were offered a mere total of 40 minutes out of those fourteen hours for breaks. They were woken up at 4:05 am and worked for about two and a half hours before they had their fifteen minute breakfast …show more content…
According to Document C, a female seasonal agricultural worker or a female cotton mill worker was making 9 Sen as a daily wage whereas males in the same occupational field were make 2-3 times as much as them. So not only were the female workers not getting paid enough, the male workers were getting paid a significantly higher wage than them. Furthermore, with the women’s wages, they could only buy one thing at a time, putting them at a very poor state. A pair of ladies’ indoor sandals or a bunch of radishes would cost 7 Sen and the female seasonal agricultural/cotton mill workers were making 9 Sen. While the making female silk factory workers were making a 13 Sen daily wage, even they couldn’t afford to buy a pound of sugar (which cost 15 Sen) with one day’s salary. This shows that even though the workers were working for prolonged hours, they were making a very minimal (daily) paycheck compared to the males and could barely afford anything and therefore it is not worth it because they are being worked like