Comments by "capmidnite" (@capmidnite) on "What Eating the Rich Did For Japan" video.

Manchuria actually became a testing ground to nurture new companies outside of the influence of the Zaibatsu. The IJA that ran things was suspicious of the zaibatsu but knew the talent of private entrepreneurs was necessary. Thus Yoshisuke Aikawa, the founder of Nissan, was tapped to help establish the Manchurian Industrial Development Company.
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@ZontarDow Maybe in financial terms the colonies didn't make sense. But in terms of strategic value and prestige, Japan's first colonies (Taiwan and Korea) were immensely valuable. They showed the world Japan was a colonizing power just like Britain and France. And during WW2 both colonies ended up contributing about 200,000 soldiers each to the war effort.
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@Vlasov45 I think they still name Shinkansen trains after the high speed steam locomotives of the Manchurian Railway. The lost dream of Manchuria still haunts the Japanese imagination.
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@appleslover What about them? It's not some big secret and well documented elsewhere. This channel is about Asian Economies. Admittedly, the local Chinese who provided most of the grunt work for the heavy industries of Manchuria were treated very harshly, almost like slave labor. So maybe that should be mentioned.
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@MNkno The collapse of Japanese Manchuria was pretty swift after the Soviets invaded it during the last days of WW2. I believe many Japanese women and children were left stranded. Some children were even adopted by local Chinese families.
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