第5次計画造船と船舶輸出をめぐる占領政策 : 経済「自立」の論理と具体化

抄録

Among the several ship construction programs, which brought a significant increase in merchant ship construction in postwar Japan, the 5th program in 1949 signaled a radical change in policy. Both the number of ships to be built and tonnage per ship were sharply increased. This change was partly resulted from the relaxation of the policies on reparation and the reduction of military industrial production in the Japanese economy. The 5th program reflected a change in the occupation policy as the international political situation was moving towards the Cold War. However, the program was also the embodiment of a plan to create a Japanese economy that was self-supporting, on the assumption that the aid from the United States had to be reduced or discontinued. The purpose of this article is to examine the aims and goals of the occupation forces through the lens of administration of the 5th Ship Construction Program and the export of vessels. The Economic Scientific Section(ESS), one of the occupation authorities that was involved in shipbuilding in Japan, took a firm stance on stimulating the export of vessels and planned shipbuilding. ESS considered that the export of ships was essential in order to create a self-supporting Japanese economy, regardless of whether rehabilitation of a domestic shipbuiding industry would be achieved or not. It encouraged the export and building of steel vessels despite strong opposition from the American shipping industry, and the British and Dutch governments. With regard to the recovery of the Japanese economy, the change in the occupation policy in Washington D.C. did not contradict the ESS's view. Under these circumstances, the 5th program became five times larger than the 4th program. It should be noted that through this process, the dominant industry in occupied Japan had shifted from coal mining to shipping and shipbuilding.