ABOUT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CIVIL ENGINEERING CONFERENCE IN THE PREWAR PERIOD—MAINLY ON THE MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED AT THE PORT AND HARBOR COMMITTEE—

Abstract

 This paper outlines the organizations that played a leading role in the decision-making of Japanese port policy in the early Showa period, the contents of deliberation, and their historical significance. It is a part of research to clarify the details and role of port policy in Japan in the prewar period and is an attempt to elucidate their significance.

 The analysis in this paper is of an organization called the Civil Engineering Conference established in prewar Japan. The organization was established in 1933 for the purpose of investigating and deliberating matters related to civil engineering, such as roads, rivers and harbors. Within the civil engineering meeting, a port subcommittee was set up as a department to deliberate on important issues related to ports in particular. After that, all port improvement works carried out before Japan was defeated in World War II were carried out after deliberation within the subcommittee. There, each plan that forms the current socio-economic foundation of Japan was deliberated and formulated.