Shippng

The sudden increase in demand for shipping from various nations at the outbreak of World War I, coupled with government protective policy, led to dramatic improvements in Japanese shipbuilding technology, thanks to which Japan grew into a leading world naval power, as well as the possessor of one of the finest merchant shipping fleets. In spite of the near total annihilation of Japan's shipping and shipbuilding facilities by the Pacific war, positive postwar moves were made to introduce new technology and engineering techniques, so much so that by 1955 Japan's shipbuilding volume ranked first in the world, further growing by 1963 to account for 50% of the world's shipbuilding capacity. Other shipbuilding projects in which Japan also successfully engaged included the construction of super-tankers and high-speed container vessels, while in recent years Japan has extended the application of its shipbuilding technology beyond the construction of seagoing vessels to ocean development.