Did Japan Ever Suffer From a Shortage of Natural Resources Before World War II?
考察二战前日本自然资源短缺问题，发现直到19世纪末日本通过出口初级产品提高人均收入，20世纪初成为资源净进口国，但1931年前并未严重短缺，1930年代军事扩张才人为造成资源短缺和生活水平下降。
Until the end of the nineteenth century, Japan raised its per capita income, starting from a low level, by exporting primary commodities and importing manufactured goods. Around the turn of the century, Japan became a net importer of natural resources. Yet it is doubtful that Japan ever suffered severely from a shortage of natural resources before the Manchurian Incident of 1931. It was the military expansion in the 1930s that created an artificial shortage of mineral resources, the wholesale exodus of population, and a lowering in the standard of living of the general public.