Railway Technology of South Manchuria Railway and Workers in China

Abstract

As a result of the Russo-Japanese War , railroad construction was undertaken to set up the South Manchuria Railway (SMR) network in the northeastern part of China. However, the SMR had no option of buying railroad cars from abroad, because this was Japan’s first experience with foreign railroad management of a normal-gauge railway, and the machine industry in Japan had not grown sufficiently to support it. Even though railway technology was introduced from the Western world, the SMR began to pursue its own technology and was able to create a stable profit structure. The SMR’s accumulation of technology became world-class in the prewar period, and this level of development was also present in the organization’s internal management. In addition, the most advanced technology was developed, due to the organization’s superior management. Wartime technology was developed in response to the lack of resources experienced during the war, but it was not able to solve new technical problems, such as dieselization . The core technology was confined to Japanese employees and technology spillovers to Chinese employees were restricted.