Today, we continue our shipbuilding saga. (Quick aside on Thailand-Cambodia tensions: Think Mao’s poem – "Lone by the pond, a tiger crouches low; Beneath green shade, its spirit starts to grow. When spring arrives and I refuse to sing, What lesser insect dares to make a thing?" Near us, such flare-ups won’t escalate. They’ll settle soon enough. Now, back to the story!)
Summary: Few would guess that ordinary sugar became the bizarre, decisive weapon that propelled Japan to the pinnacle of global shipbuilding. This is how it happened.
1. MacArthur's Grand Entrance: The Actor Takes the Stage
Our story opens on September 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay. As detailed previously, the bay was crammed with over 200 US warships – an overwhelming display of power. Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Army Chief Yoshijirō Umezu boarded the USS Missouri to sign the Instrument of Surrender.
Then entered General Douglas MacArthur. His entrance sent a chill through every Japanese official present. Why? They instantly recognized a master performer – and one bearing a deep grudge.
MacArthur's signing ceremony was pure theater:
He pulled out five pens.
Used the first two to write "Douglas," then dramatically handed them to generals.
Used the third for "MacArthur," handed it away.
Used the fourth for "Supreme Allied Commander."
Used the fifth for the date.
This flamboyant display terrified the Japanese. It screamed: I am a man who remembers slights, and you humiliated me. The source of his rage? The Philippines disaster of 1941-42.
The Humiliation: Days after Pearl Harbor, Japanese forces attacked the Philippines, defended by MacArthur's 130,000 troops (including 30,000 US soldiers). MacArthur, caught utterly unprepared, allowed Japanese bombers to destroy hundreds of US aircraft on the ground two days after Pearl Harbor. Small Japanese landing forces routed far larger US units. MacArthur retreated to the Bataan Peninsula, famously vowing "I shall return" before escaping by PT boat, abandoning his troops to capture and the horrific Bataan Death March.
(Note: Many Japanese troops in the Pacific were units previously mauled by Chinese forces and deemed unfit for the main China theater – yet they crushed MacArthur's forces.)
The Japanese delegation understood: They had deeply, personally offended a vengeful showman. MacArthur's occupation would be brutal.
2. Occupation: Vengeance and Resistance
MacArthur landed in Japan radiating contempt. Ignoring bowing Japanese dignitaries, he drove straight to the US Embassy. He then "invited" Emperor Hirohito for a humiliating visit – under the guns of surrounding US troops.
His policies matched the theatrics:
Demobilize 7 million troops; convert tanks into fire trucks.
Dismantle the Zaibatsu (industrial conglomerates).
Implement land reform, breaking up large estates.
Plan to de-industrialize Japan into an agrarian state.
This last plan sparked fierce resistance. Wall Street protested the massive cost of the occupation. More crucially, Secretary of State George C. Marshall intervened.
Why did Marshall save Japanese industry? He agreed with his strategist George F. Kennan: The post-war world had four industrial centers – the US, Europe, the USSR, and Japan. Destroying Japan weakened the West. MacArthur reluctantly backed down... except on one industry: Shipbuilding.
"Without Japanese ships, could they have invaded the Philippines? Could they have humiliated ME?" MacArthur's vendetta against Japanese shipbuilding was personal and unwavering.
3. Japan's Uncanny Shipbuilding Advantage
Paradoxically, Japan's shipbuilding industry emerged from WWII in surprisingly good shape, despite "LeMay's Barbecue" (the devastating firebombing campaign).
Facilities: US bombing raids heavily damaged shipyard buildings but often spared core infrastructure like dry docks and slipways. The famed Kure Naval Arsenal (builder of the Yamato) lost 70% of its buildings, but its vital docks remained largely functional. (*Ironically, many facilities were originally built using indemnities paid by China after the 1895 Sino-Japanese War – the Qing Dowager Empress's disastrous "investment."*)
Personnel: Japan had preserved its core shipbuilding talent. Pre-war, the industry employed ~130,000. To sustain naval production, the government exempted skilled workers and engineers from conscription. Although apprentices and some laborers were later drafted (many perishing), the essential technical backbone (~40,000) survived. Apprentices and laborers could be quickly retrained.
Japan had the facilities and the skilled manpower ready to rebuild. Only MacArthur's veto and a critical missing ingredient held them back.
4. The Missing Ingredient & The Korean War Windfall
The critical missing piece was steel. Shipbuilding requires massive amounts of specialized plate steel.
MacArthur had targeted Japan's steel industry for breakup. While Marshall prevented total dismantling, production plummeted:
1946: 560,000 tons (<<10% of pre-war)
1949: 3.11 million tons (~50% of pre-war)
By 1948, the first post-war shipbuilding boom (fueled by the Marshall Plan) was underway, dominated by Britain (see Part 1). Japan watched enviously but helplessly – MacArthur's ban remained.
Then came salvation: The Korean War (June 25, 1950).
President Truman immediately ordered MacArthur (as SCAP in Japan) to support South Korea.
Desperate for war matériel, the US flooded Japanese industry with orders. Quality standards plunged ("Just get the trucks to the front; we don't care if they come back!").
Steel production surged:
1952: 4.84 million tons (near pre-war peak)
1953: 6.5 million tons (exceeding pre-war peak) *(Context: China's 1953 steel output: ~1.77 million tons – a remarkable recovery from the catastrophic legacy of Chiang Kai-shek's rule, which saw output plummet from 213,000 tons in 1912 to just 44,000 tons in 1948).*
MacArthur's personal vendetta against shipbuilding was overruled by wartime necessity.
Japan's industry was not just restored; it was supercharged. The path to shipbuilding dominance was clear – except for one final, massive hurdle: CAPITAL.
5. The Sugar Solution: Japan's Secret Weapon
Shipbuilding is insanely capital-intensive. Ships are hugely expensive and take years to build, requiring massive upfront financing. Post-war Japan was cash-poor. How could they compete?
The Japanese government devised an ingenious, almost bizarre, subsidy scheme centered on SUGAR.
The Problem: Japan lacked foreign exchange. Sugar imports were strictly controlled and highly profitable – like holding a salt monopoly license in Imperial China.
The Scheme: The government linked shipbuilding tonnage to sugar import quotas.
Calculate the international sugar price.
Determine the highest price Japanese consumers would pay.
Calculate Japan's total annual sugar consumption at that price.
Allocate portions of this "virtual" sugar import quota to shipyards based on the tonnage of ships they built.
The Execution: Shipyards built ships and sold their lucrative sugar import rights. This hidden subsidy effectively slashed ship prices by 20-30%.
The Scale: The program funneled an estimated ¥10 billion (massive at the time) into the industry.
The Result: Armed with intact infrastructure, skilled labor, a booming steel industry, and fueled by sugar profits, Japanese shipyards exploded onto the global market. By 1955, Japan overtook Britain as the world's #1 shipbuilder.
The Aftermath & Irony:
British Confusion: For nearly 30 years, British shipbuilders were baffled. How could Japan build so cheaply? Only later did they uncover the "sugar weapon."
Lasting Perception: This opaque subsidy system cemented the Western perception (often unfairly applied later to Korea and China) that East Asian industrial success relied on hidden state support. The "sugar shock" left a deep, lingering suspicion.
British Revenge: Britain, nursing this 30-year-old wound, would soon find a way to strike back at Japan – a story for tomorrow.
(Next: How Britain's revenge fueled Korea's rise...)
评论
发表评论