石原廣一郎と資源確保論(<特集>「近代日本の南方関与」 II )

Abstract

Hiroichiro Ishihara, riding on the wave of Taisho Nanshinron, went to British Malay to set up a rubber plantation. After a series of failures, including that of this venture, he discovered two large iron-ore deposits in Malay and established himself in the mining business between 1919 and 1924. From these mines and other smaller ones in Southeast Asia, Ishihara supplied Japan with 18 million tons of iron ore between 1921 and 1940, approximately 45% of the total consumption of iron ore in Japan. However, he did not receive much social recognition from his contemporaries, and his achievements have been regarded rather lightly by historians. In order to explain this treatment, this paper puts Ishihara's achievements in historical perspective. The major reasons appear to be : (1) there was a surplus of ore at the time of Ishihara's discoveries and (2) the military, which was the real driving force behind the expansion of the iron and steel industry before World War II, considered the supply from Malay and the Philippines more vulnerable and, hence, less valuable than that from Korea or Northeast China.