State General Mobilization Law
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The , also known as the National Mobilization Law, was legislated in the
Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...
by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Fumimaro Konoe was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1937 to 1939 and from 1940 to 1941. He presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and breakdown in relations with the United States, which shortly after his t ...
on 24 March 1938 to put the national economy of the
Empire of Japan The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
on war-time footing after the start of the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
. The State General Mobilization Law had fifty clauses, which provided for government controls over civilian organizations (including
labor union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
s),
nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
of strategic industries,
price controls Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of go ...
and
rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution (marketing), distribution of scarcity, scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resourc ...
, and nationalized the
news media The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public. These include News agency, news agencies, newspapers, news magazines, News broadcasting, news channels etc. History Some of the fir ...
.Pauer, Japan's War Economy, pp.13 The laws gave the government the authority to use unlimited budgets to subsidize war production, and to compensate manufacturers for losses caused by war-time mobilization. Eighteen of the fifty articles outlined penalties for violators. The law had long-term repercussions for the Japanese economy beyond its repeal by the
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (), or SCAP, was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) ...
in 1945. Many policies created by the law resulted in structural changes to Japanese labor policy, creating Japan's modern day union system and policies such as lifetime employment.


Background

Japanese ultranationalist ideology, termed Shōwa statism, always argued for a greater degree of state control over the economy, particularly in regards to mobilization. The
Imperial Way Faction The ''Kōdōha'' or was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The ''Kōdōha'' sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic and aggressive imperialist ideals, an ...
, based out of
Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
, regarded the traditional monopolies of Japan, the
Zaibatsu is a Japanese language, Japanese term referring to industrial and financial vertical integration, vertically integrated business conglomerate (company), conglomerates in the Empire of Japan, whose influence and size allowed control over signifi ...
, with contempt and distrust. The radicals in the army saw the Zaibatsu corporations as an extension of the "corrupt political parties" and loathed their perceived support for foreign minister
Kijūrō Shidehara Baron was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1945 to 1946. He was a leading proponent of pacifism in Japan before and after World War II. Born to a wealthy Osaka family, Shidehara studied law at Tok ...
, who had advanced liberal foreign policy. The army first advanced its ideas of
dirigisme Dirigisme or dirigism () is an economic doctrine in which the state plays a strong directive (policies) role, contrary to a merely regulatory or non-interventionist role, over a market economy. As an economic doctrine, dirigisme is the opposite ...
and economic
central planning A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...
in the puppet state of
Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...
. Under the reform bureaucrats, corporations like the
Showa Steel Works The () was a Japanese government-sponsored steel mill that was one of the showpieces of the industrialization program for Manchukuo in the late 1930s. History Shōwa Steel Works began as the ''Anshan Iron & Steel Works'', a subsidiary of the ...
and Manchurian Industrial Development Company were established by the army, who implemented a five year plan. The policies of the reform bureaucrats laid the groundwork for Japanese wartime policy as the state and military asserted control over the economy. The government, prior to the passage of the law, began a process of "creeping control", gradually amalgamating and centralizing crucial sectors such as steel and petroleum production. At the onset of the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...
, Japan had not yet transitioned to a wartime economy, with many civilian sectors remaining outside of government guidance. In 1938, with the war in China bogging down, the army began pressuring the civilian government to pass numerous ordenances expanding military control over civilian industries in order to reach the state of a "quasi-wartime economy" (''junsenji keizai''), by progressively increasing government influence over the civilian economy.


Timeline of passage

The law was attacked as unconstitutional when introduced to the Diet in January 1938, though assurances were given that it would never be invoked "in the present emergency". Despite heavy domestic opposition, the law was passed due to strong pressure from the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
and took effect from May 1938. It was abolished on 20 December 1945 by the American occupation authorities after the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
. The was a supplemental law promulgated by Prime Minister Konoe as part of the State General Mobilization Law. It empowered the government to draft civilian workers to ensure an adequate supply of labor in strategic war industries, with exceptions allowed only in the case of the physically or mentally disabled. The program was organized under the Ministry of Welfare, and at its peak 1,600,000 men and women were drafted, and 4,500,000 workers were reclassified as draftees (and thus were unable to quit their jobs). The Ordinance was superseded by the in March 1945, which was in turn abolished on 20 December 1945 by the
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers The Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (), or SCAP, was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) ...
after the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
.


Effects

As a result of the enforcement of the law, and as Japan mobilized during the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
, consumer expenditures fell from 26.7 billion yen in 1940 to 23.8 billion yen in 1942. As Japan entered a state of economic
total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all (including civilian-associated) resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilises all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare ov ...
following defeats at the
Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...
and failure for the
Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
to defeat the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
on the Eastern Front, capital outlays related to the military doubled from 9.9 billion yen in 1922 to 20.2 billion yen in 1944. Capital outlays related to non military industries decreased to half a billion yen a year, and consumer expenditures declined 30%. The law included provisions to control capital, imposing significant limitations on the size of shareholder
dividends A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...
and restructuring corporations in order to support the desires of employees. Such provisions were included in order to increase worker
productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...
as a way of furthering armaments production. Additional ordinances had long term effects in the Japanese economy, resulting in policies such as Shūshin koyō (lifetime employment), and the implementation of the " seniority wage". Despite the dramatic increase in armaments production caused by Japan's shift to total mobilization between 1938 and 1942, Japanese munitions production remained far below that of the United States. Japanese aircraft production reached 28,000 in 1944, still only one fourth of the United States' output that year. The difference in shipyard production was even more vast, with Japanese shipbuilding remaining 1/6th of that of the United States.


See also

* National Spiritual Mobilization Movement


References


Bibliography


Books

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Journals

* * * * {{JapanEmpireNavbox 1938 in Japan Japan in World War II Government of the Empire of Japan Price controls 1938 in law Regulation in Japan Economic nationalism Economics of fascism Korea under Japanese rule Economy of the Empire of Japan April 1938 in Asia