The streets were lined with bustling businesses and stores, seemingly in better condition than those in Hong Kong.
"It appears to be doing well," Hardy said with a smile.
Duncan explained, "It’s only surface level. Japan’s economy is currently in a severe slump. Inflation is rampant, the currency has devalued, factories aren’t running, and workers are unemployed. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare’s statistics, the economy is only a fifth of what it was before the war."
"Food shortages are also severe. Japan used to import food from China and Southeast Asia, but those channels are now closed. They’ve implented a rationing system, limiting daily food intake for each person."
"There’s significant unemploynt now, so the governnt is hiring people for urban reconstruction, clearing the remnants of the bombings and dumping construction debris in Tokyo Bay to create reclaid land."
For a few hours, the convoy drove through Tokyo. Hardy observed the scene outside without getting out of the car, and as night fell, they returned directly to the airport, where Hardy boarded his plane once more.
Duncan handed over a box filled with docunts.
These were materials he had gathered during his ti there. After giving Duncan additional instructions, the plane took off, bound for the United States.
Opening the docunt box, Hardy found thick stacks of reports.
He began reading.
After World War II, the United States imposed strict controls over Japan. All companies that had supplied equipnt to the military were subject to economic sanctions, and military restrictions were the most stringent, prohibiting Japan from maintaining any ard forces.
"The United Nations ultimate goal for Japan was to minimize any threat it could pose to world peace and security and to foster an unprecedented level of ideological liberation."
In other words, they aid for comprehensive reforms across the country’s structure, political and economic systems, national powers, and military.
In the initial stages, the United States also provided so aid to Japan, such as food assistance. In February this year, to counter Japan’s severe inflation, the United States implented the "Dodge Plan."
The plan’s most famous feature was a fixed exchange rate, pegging the dollar to the yen at 1:360 from its implentation—a rate that would last until the 1970s.
The plan also established rules for reducing expenses, balancing the budget, increasing tax collection, limiting loans, stabilizing wages, and tightening price controls.
The "Dodge Line" had both positive and negative impacts on Japan. It curbed postwar inflation and stabilized Japan’s finances, offering significant long term benefits for its developnt.
However, it also ended direct economic aid from the United States to Japan, which was one of the plan’s objectives. The policy of economic austerity then caused a shortage of funding, leading to production halts, business closures, and increased unemploynt.
The Dodge Plan was essentially an aggressive redy for a severe crisis. It did bring social order and inflation under control, but it also caused Japan’s economy to enter another steep decline, pushing many major companies to the brink of collapse.
This was why Duncan said the apparent prosperity was deceptive. In reality, Japan was struggling deeply in all aspects of life, including public welfare and economic growth.
But Hardy knew that by the latter half of next year, things would start to improve, as the Korean War would break out. The United States would issue large supply orders to Japan and relax certain policy restrictions, allowing many Japanese companies to regain their footing.
Hardy understood that the Korean crisis would spark Japan’s economic recovery. Later, during the Vietnam War, Japan would receive a similar influx of orders, leading to full economic restoration, even surpassing its pre-war economic levels. By the late 1960s, Japan’s economy would trail only the U.S.
and the Soviet Union, and by the late 1970s, Japan would surpass the Soviet Union to beco the world’s second largest economy, shocking the globe.
Of course, Japan eventually began to flaunt its success, boasting that it could even buy up the United States. But when they got carried away, the United States intervened decisively, forcing the Plaza Accord on Japan, which kept Japan in a prolonged economic stagnation that lasted for decades.
Hardy continued reading the reports, deep in thought.
He was only one man.
He couldn’t alter the course of world events.
He disliked Japan’s ambitions, but he also liked money.
The next year or so would be an ideal ti to acquire Japanese industries. He could leverage the restrictions the U.S. placed on Japan and capitalize on the struggles Japanese companies were facing to acquire so industries in bulk.
In fact, there was more he could do beyond just acquiring industries.
...
The airplane traveled through the pitch black sky, and from ti to ti, a flash of lightning lit up the distance—it looked like a storm was brewing over there.
Hardy thought again about the war that was bound to happen next year.
This ti, he had established a robust industrial group in Hong Kong, encompassing several industries. With his relationship with the U.S. military logistics departnt, he was confident he could secure many short-term orders from the U.S. military stationed in the East and perhaps even aim for so long-term contracts.
The U.S. would station more than 50,000 soldiers in Japan and about 24,000 soldiers in South Korea until 2024. Securing a long-term supply order for that many soldiers would not only allow the Hardy Group to earn an enormous amount of money but also gain strong political influence in the region.
Asia was expected to develop rapidly in the coming year, but many Asian countries are notorious for breaking contracts that don’t favor them. Therefore, having the backing of the U.S. military stationed in the region would serve as a guarantee and deterrence to those politicians.
Hardy looked out of the window and sighed deeply. He hated war, having experienced its brutality and the loss of many brothers. He didn’t want anyone, even a stranger, to go through that pain.
Enjoy new stories from empire
But at the end of the day, he was just a businessman. What he could do, leveraging his foresight, was already his limit.
The unstoppable montum of the world moves forward, and there are few people who can turn it by themselves.
Japan would benefit greatly from the war, so he knew he had to begin his Japanese investnt venture before the Korean War started.
As for his role in the conflict to co, as a forr soldier, he would do whatever he could to ensure that those brothers serving on the front lines received the best supplies they deserved.
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