Japans industrial growth → increased the living standards of most Japanese. → they had access to cheaper and better goods → and benefitted from the improvement services and infrastructure such as:
- public schooling
- electricity
- lighting However → those living in the countryside did not benefit equally from this compared to those living in towns.
There was insufficient land for farmers due to the large population growth in Japan. to make things worse → by 1920s → productivity of the farmers → in countryside had stagnated. → this was because technological advances in farming → such as use of better tools → and cultivation techniques → did not spread quickly enough in the countryside.
furthermore → majority of farmers → were tenant farmers → who struggled to survive. Much of their harvest → went towards paying the landlord → leaving them with barely enough to eat. While some Farmers → were fortunate enough to own their land → plots of land they owned were often small and had poor harvests.