Child Labour and Long-Term Absence in Japanese Fishing Villages during the 1950s Post-War Recovery

Author Accepted Manuscript (AAM).

This manuscript was accepted for publication in Childhood in the Past on 23 January 2026.

The Version of Record is published by Taylor & Francis and is available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17585716.2026.2625267

This study examines whether Japanese prefectures with documented child labour in 1950s fishing villages show elevated rates of incomplete compulsory education. Using prefecture-level data from the 2020 National Population Census, this study focuses on adults who did not complete junior high school, relating these outcomes to historical evidence of long-term school absence associated with fisheries-based labour. Based on a systematic review, prefectures were classified into Group A, where absence was primarily linked to labour demands, and Group B, where labour was accompanied by documented trafficking practices. Group-level comparisons show that non-completion was higher than the national average (0.70%) among Group A men (0.89%) and Group B women (1.53%). At the prefectural level, particularly pronounced rates were observed among men in Hiroshima (4.25%) and women in Okinawa (5.66%), consistent with historically documented labour-related educational disruption. The study highlights the relevance of adult literacy and lifelong learning from a life-course perspective.