The was a cabinet-level ministry in the final days of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

, charged with the

procurement Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. When a government agency buys goods or s ...

and manufacture of

armaments A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

spare part A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or refurbishment of defective equipment/units. Spare parts are an important feature of logist ...

s and munitions to support the Japanese war effort in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

History

The Ministry of Munitions was created on 1 November 1943 out of the Board of Planning of the

Ministry of Commerce and Industry A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

, which was subsequently abolished. With an increasing portion of Japan's industrial base and

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...

damaged by Allied air raids, the Japanese government felt it necessary to unify the administration of munitions production to improve efficiency and to increase production levels, particularly that of

military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat: * Combat aircraft are ...

. The concept was inspired by the German Ministry of Armaments and Munitions under

Fritz Todt Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior Nazi who rose from the position of Inspector General for German Roadways, in which he directed the construction of the German autobahns (''Reich ...

and

Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as the Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. A close ally of Adolf Hitler, h ...

, which had successfully increased

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's industrial production under similar adverse conditions, and was also an unsuccessful political move by the military to impose more control over the zaibatsu. Although

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Tōjō concurrently was first Minister of Munitions, the actual day-to-day running of the Ministry devolved to his deputy,

Nobusuke Kishi was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. Known for his exploitative rule of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in Northeast China in the 1930s, Kishi was nicknamed the "Monster of the Sh� ...

. Key firms were designated as components of the

nationalized 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 usually refers to p ...

Munitions Companies System, and managers were given positions as government officials. Production staff was regarded as conscript labor and was not allowed to quit, or go on strike. State-controlled financial institutions provided

working capital Working capital (WC) is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organisation, or other entity, including governmental entities. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is consi ...

and subsidized the firms for any losses. The Ministry of Munitions was abolished in 1945, by the American occupation authorities, and its functions were absorbed into the modern

Ministry of International Trade and Industry The was a ministry of the Government of Japan from 1949 to 2001. The MITI was one of the most powerful government agencies in Japan and, at the height of its influence, effectively ran much of Japanese industrial policy, funding research and ...

(MITI).Neary, The State and Politics in Japan, page 45

Organization

Munitions Minister *Secretariat **General Operations Bureau **Aircraft Production Bureau **Mechanical Bureau **Iron & Steel Bureau **Light Metals Bureau **Non-Metallic Materials Bureau **Chemical Bureau **Fuels Bureau **Electricity Bureau

List of Ministers

References

Books

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External links

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of Munitions (Japan) Military history of Japan during World War II Former government ministries of Japan Politics of the Empire of Japan 1943 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan