During the Empire of Japan and up to 1945, Japan was dependent on imported foods and raw materials for industry. At the time, Japan had one of the largest merchant fleets in the world with a total of approximately 6 million tonnes of displacement before December 1941. Despite heavy naval losses during the Pacific War, Japan was still left with 4,700,000 tonnes.
Trade
Despite popular perception, during the 1930s Japan was exporting low-cost items successfully. However, between the years of 1929 and 1938 foreign commerce dropped from 3.7% to 3.5%. Japan ran a trade deficit, selling a total of US$12.85 and buying US$15.25 per capita. This was in part brought on by the purchase of wartime materials.
Japan's primary trading partners in order were:
- United States
- Manchukuo
- Wang Jingwei Government
- Mengjiang
- Occupied Chinese territories
- India
- United Kingdom
- Dutch Indies
Japan exported 32% of its total output to the United States, and purchased 21% of its foreign trade.
Japan's imports were as follows:
- 32% - cotton
- 9% - wool
- 9% - iron
- 6% - petroleum
- 4% - machinery
- 3% - soybeans
- 2% - wheat
Japan's exports were as follows:
- 19% - wool articles
- 15% - raw silk
- 15% - rayon
- 3% - machinery
Japan's primary exports were raw silk, controlling 80% of the world's production, and tea, controlling 10%.
Japan's total foreign trade was equivalent to Belgium, a country with less than 10% of Japan's population.
In 1897, the local monetary unit, the yen, was valued on the gold standard at a base level of 24.5 British Pence, which permits the use in the figures of the pound sterling or gold-backed US dollars.
(1 Yen = 24.5 British Penny or 10.8 Yen = 1 British Guinea = 1.05 Pounds Sterling)
{| class="wikitable" style="margin: 0 0 1em 0;"
|+Values in millions of British Pounds
|- style="border-bottom:1px solid black;"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | Dates
! Imports
! Exports
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1891 to 1895
| 11.51 || 12.61
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1901 to 1905
| 35.92 || 30.23
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1906 to 1910
| 46.40 || 43.70
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1911 to 1913
| 64.63 || 55.51
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1925 to 1929
| 213.48 || 187.55
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Values in millions of Gold United States Dollars
|- style="border-bottom:1px solid black;"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | Dates
! Imports
! Exports
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1891–1895
| 55 || 60
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1901–1905
| 175 || 150
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1906–1910
| 230 || 215
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1911–1913
| 320 || 275
|- align="right"
! style="border-right:1px solid black;" | 1925–1929
| 1,050 || 925
|}
During the worldwide depression (1931 to 1934), Japanese exterior commerce grew.