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{
    "localId": "486500942",
    "label": "Report, Central Intelligence Agency, Japan, Situation Report 38",
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    "id": "486500942",
    "sourceUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/486500942",
    "contentType": "document",
    "title": "Report, Central Intelligence Agency, Japan, Situation Report 38",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/486500942",
    "collections": [
        "President's Secretary's Files (Truman Administration)",
        "Intelligence Files"
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    "levelOfDescription": "item",
    "productionDates": [
        {
            "day": 14,
            "logicalDate": "1948-09-14",
            "month": 9,
            "year": 1948
        }
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{
    "seq": 40,
    "pageIndex": 0,
    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/presidential-libraries/truman/hst-psf/602196/875514/875514-01-040.tif",
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    "ocrText": "SECRET\n70 to 80 percent of the tenant-cultivated land of Japan for resale to tenant farmers\nwithin a two-year period ending 31 December 1948. Some 5 million acres will be\ninvolved in the transfer. The first purchases by the government were set for 31 March\n1947 and the first resales to the farmers were made in July 1947. In many cases, the\nactual transfer of land to tenants will be a technicality since tenant-purchasers will\nbid to buy the land they are already cultivating.\nIn prewar years, Japan imported an annual average of more than 3.5\nmillion tons of food (from crops), primarily from its colonial empire. In view of post-\nwar interruption to its arteries of trade and the shortage of the foreign exchange which\nit would now need to pay for such imports, Japan has been dependent upon outside aid,\nprimarily from the US, to meet its food deficit. In the first year of the Occupation, food\nimports from the US totaled 0.7 million tons and in the second year 1.6 million tons.\nIn the prewar period the Japanese consumed 2,270 calories of food per\ncapita daily as a national average. In 1947-48, the national average is estimated at\nabout 1,750 calories with the nonfarm consumer receiving only about 1,500 calories\na day.\nSince the volume of food imports from the US is restricted to that neces-\nsary to prevent such widespread disease and unrest as would endanger the Occupation\nforces, Japan has had to impose controls over crop collections and food distribution.\nEven so, and despite the fact that the ration was not fully met, in 1946 an estimated 5-10\npercent of the rice yield found its way to the blackmarket.\nFood prospects for the 1948 rice year do not indicate a marked improve-\nment over 1947 despite an increased collection quota. The domestic food supply will\ncontinue to be inadequate to provide the minimum requirement of caloric intake neces-\nsary to prevent large-scale disease and unrest. This is due to an anticipated still further\nincreased consumption requirement resulting from a population growth of 1,000,000\nper year, increased rations for workers in vital industries, and the inadequate supply of\ncommercial fertilizers. It is estimated that the food deficit for 1948 may reach as much\nas 2.8 million metric tons expressed as rice equivalent.\n(2) Fisheries.\nThe Japanese rely upon the fishing industry as their main source of ani-\nmal protein. Japan produces a great variety of marine products for food; several hun-\ndred different species of fish alone are eaten in Japan. In prewar years, although the\ngreater part of the Japanese fishing products was consumed at home, the production\nwas suffici ent to provide needed exports for Japan's trade balances.\nPrior to World War II, Japan was the foremost fishing country in the\nworld, accounting for more than one-fourth of the world's total. Fishery production\nwas at its peak during 1931-38 when total annual production including that of the\ncolonies varied from 4,900,000 to 6,900,000 metric tons. Approximately 1,500,000 per-\nsons were engaged either full or part time in fishing and in the processing of marine\nproducts. About 363,000 boats, of which about 75,000 were powered, were used in the\nindustry, concentrated largely in the coastal waters of Japan proper. Included in\nII-4"
}