Abstract This article examines the rice distribution network of the Japanese community in Guangdong during the Japanese occupation. It emphasizes the hierarchical patterns and exploitative nature of the rationing system established by the occupation authorities. Securing food was a daily struggle for most people during the Second Sino-Japanese War, as combatants competed for resources in wartime China. In the case of the Japanese Empire, Japanese forces in each occupied area and colony negotiated for external food supplies annually while also deciding to extract more food surpluses from their jurisdictions for local consumption. Food, primarily grains, was centrally controlled and redistributed by the Japanese occupiers. The unprecedented dominance the Japanese held over food supplies benefited certain groups but was detrimental to most local populations. This article focuses on the sources of rice in occupied Guangdong and the methods by which the Japanese collected and allocated it. The inability of the occupying authority to revive the local food economy and secure additional foodstuffs for the region unintentionally severed vital urban lifelines; it also strengthened the self-interested tendencies of the occupying authorities to create exclusive food-supplying networks and rationing systems. In this case, the food demands of certain groups, mainly the Japanese in occupied Guangdong, were met at the expense of others. This article argues that self-serving calculations on the part of the Japanese, rather than mere cruelty and incompetence, should also be considered when discussing the history of occupied Guangdong.
Chi Ho Kiang (Fri,) studied this question.