从明治时代开始,随着油灯用煤油的需求增大,石油产业也开始兴起。明治时期的石油需求,几乎都是作为消费商品的煤油,与现在相比,石油在产业中所占的比例很小。为此,石油产业没有成为明治政府殖产兴业政策的直接对象,而是作为地方性工业,以民间为主导进行开发的。1904年前后,随着电灯的普及,煤油的消费量逐渐萎缩。另一方面,以第一次世 From the Meiji era, the petroleum industry started to rise as the demand for kerosene for oil lamps increased. Oil demand in the Meiji period was almost all kerosene as a consumer product, and the share of oil in the industry was small compared to now. To this end, the oil industry has not become a direct target of the Meiji government’s policy of industrialization and industrialization, but as a local industry, led by the private sector. Around 1904, with the popularity of electric lights, the consumption of kerosene was gradually shrinking. On the other hand, to the first world