ic spirit', thus implying support for Japanese military expansionism. However, the Imperial Army wanted highly committed supporters, not late converts, to support their planned war in China, and so they granted contracts to new zaibatsu built on the remains of the second-tier zaibatsu which had collapsed after the First World War. When the Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937 and Manchuria fell, it was these new zaibatsu, of which the largest was Nippon Sangyo (usually shortened to Nissan), which were allowed a free hand in the conquered territories. Based primarily on heavy industries, however, they lacked the financial resources of the old zaibatsu and rapidly ran out of money. So, despite their intense dislike of them, the Imperial Army turned to the old zaibatsu to gear up their heavy industrial activities and support the war effort. An effort that, with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941, brought both Japan and the US into the Second World War.The defeat of Japan in 1945, and the bombing that preceded it, left the country completely devastated. Socially and industrially it was on its knees, reduced to Third World status. The subsequent US occupation of Japan was intended to ensure that "a former enemy would never again become a threat to world peace". A program of fundamental reform was put in hand by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). Designed to demilitarise and democratise the country, an integral part of the program was the disbandment of Japan's military and industrial platform. To this end, the 15 largest zaibatsu holding companies and 83 large zaibatsu companies were targeted for dissolution. Once the zaibatsu holding companies were dissolved, the shares they held were dispersed, mostly to employees and the general public. In addition, all the members of 56 named families connected with the ten largest zaibatsu were ordered to give up their executive positions and surrender their personal assets. ...
