Япония: цивилизация, культура, язык 2024

«ISSUES OF JAPANOLOGY, vol. 10» St-Petersburg State Univ 2024 467 Economic Development of Karafuto: Industrialization and Incorporation into the General System of the Japanese Empire (Barinov Alex A.) Nowadays, the academic community has established the statement that Karafuto (1905-1945) was a purely economic colony, from which natural resources and pulp-paper products were massively supplied for the needs of the Japanese Empire. Undoubtedly, these reasons greatly influenced the fact that the southern part of Sakhalin was obtained as a result of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. However, up until the 1920s, the region’s economy was primarily self-directed. Since the 19th century, Japanese seasoning fishing has flourished on the island, which contributed very poorly to the development, that is why the main focus of local authorities was to attract permanent residents. Initially favorable conditions were created for agriculture, but local demographic and economic issues were able to be resolved only after the destruction of logistical routes from Europe during World War I and the beginning of industrialization in the governorate, gradually incorporating Karafuto into the economic system of the Japanese Empire. This research presents the process of transformation of the governorate economic structure from its creation in 1905 into becoming a part of the “internal lands” ( 内地 naichi) in 1943. In 1907 Karafuto Civil Administration Office ( 樺太民政署 Karafuto-minseisho ) was reorganized as the Karafuto Agency ( 樺太庁 Karafuto-chō ), which almost immediately began providing benefits to settlers. The policy of the local authorities was primarily aimed at reducing the contribution of seasonable fishermen to the economic sphere of Karafuto. There was an urgent need to attract a permanent population in order to develop an utmost uninhabited area. For instance, the same