Nan'yō Kōhatsu

1921 founding

Founded in 1921 by Haruji Matsue to exploit the new mandated territory of Micronesia, Nanko received substantial support from the colonial administration and capital from the Oriental Development Company (東洋拓殖株式會社, Tōyō Takushoku K.K.). The company was promoted as the "Mantetsu of the South" in hopes that it would be as successful and as profitable as the South Manchuria Railway Company.

Later years and abolition (1940–1945)

Matsue resigned as president in 1940, and was succeeded by Tokuichi Kuribayashi, an entrepreneur who had established several pearl fisheries in Southeast Asia and on the coast of Western Australia.

During the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, Nan'yō Kōhatsu continued to expand its operations, and received several projects from the Imperial Japanese Navy to assist in the administration of the occupied territories. In Sulawesi, for example, the company was responsible for the overseeing the collection and distribution of rice.

However, during the Pacific War, many of the company's facilities were destroyed by various battles, and some 10,000 company employees were killed. Kuribayashi negotiated with the Navy and with various insurance companies for compensation, which he partially received; however, Nan'yō Kōhatsu was abolished after the surrender of Japan by order of the Allied occupation authorities.