A Study On Japanese Tobacco Predation In Northeast China(1917-1945)

Tobacco was introduced into Northeast China for more than 300 years,and by the end of the 19 th century,not only did it form a mature Kanto famous tobacco producing area,but tobacco agriculture also showed the characteristics of coexistence of small-scale peasant economy and capitalist economy.In the 20 th century,with the rise of the modern cigarette industry and the competition of foreign cigarette manufacturers,the northeast cigarette market rose rapidly and gradually became exclusive to the powerful British American Tobacco.At the same time,modern Japan has always regarded Northeast China as a "line of interest" for foreign expansion,and has long been salivating in the face of the huge profits of the Northeast cigarette market.However,due to the inherent shortcomings of insufficient local tobacco production in Japan,Japanese tobacco manufacturers and British American Tobacco have repeatedly lost the upper hand in market competition,which prompted Japan to focus directly on Northeast Tobacco,and relied on military power to carry out 28 years of plundering activities against Northeast Tobacco.In 1917,a Japanese survey concluded that Tohoku native tobacco was not suitable as a raw material for cigarettes,and it was necessary to introduce and promote new tobacco varieties of good quality to prepare for large-scale plundering of tobacco.Therefore,Japan opened a "tobacco test field" in Tohoku in 1918 for tobacco trials,and in 1919 it was decided to promote American yellow tobacco in Tohoku.Since then,Japan has relied on the specially formed "tobacco farming group" to promote American yellow tobacco in the northeast,attracting northeast tobacco farmers to join.After Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China,the Japanese mainland and its colonies were subject to international trade sanctions,resulting in a shortage of tobacco raw materials in Northeast China.In order to stabilize colonial rule and maintain the balance between supply and demand of cigarettes in Northeast China,Japan and its puppet Manchu regime included tobacco in the "Five-Year Plan for Industrial Development" to increase production.From 1937 to 1941,Japan achieved the so-called goal of "self-sufficiency" in tobacco raw materials in Tohoku by rewarding tobacco farming and expanding the "tobacco farming combination".However,with the outbreak of the Pacific War,the increasing shortage of materials prompted the Japanese to completely tear off the mask of hypocrisy,and set up a control system for the production,supply and marketing of Northeast Tobacco,wantonly plundering Northeast tobacco and wealth.Japan has been working step by step,all Tobacco-funded tobacco has flowed to Japanese-funded tobacco factories and Japan,and Tohoku tobacco prices and taxes have also become a tool for Japan to make huge profits.Japan’s plunder of Tohoku tobacco caused endless disasters to Tohoku society and future generations.First of all,tobacco is harmful to the land,while Japan has continuously expanded the tobacco land and accumulated it in the "Southern Manchuria" area for many years,harming the northeast land.Second,Japan formed a "tobacco farming group" to enslave tobacco farmers in the northeast,leading to the colonization of the tobacco agricultural business model in the northeast.Third,with the goal of plundering Northeast Tobacco,Japan carried out tobacco farming experiments to industrialize Northeast tobacco farming technology to a certain extent.Finally,while Japan’s plunder of tobacco in the northeast affected the consumption of the people in the northeast,it also implemented a brutal economic control system in the northeast,posing a great threat to the lives of the people in the northeast.