ABSTRACT
The policy of the United States postwar occupation was based on promotion of Japanese economic independence. The United States provided funds and technological guidance in the rehabilitation of the Japanese steel industry. Running simultaneously with the government's "double-your-income" program, the steel industry's Third Modernization Program—a daring attempt toward excellence—began in 1961 and ran for ten years. Steelmakers generally agree that large-capacity steel mills are more efficient than smaller ones because they produce at a lower cost per ton. The twenty-one integrated steel mills in Japan average 6 million tons per year and are operated by eight out of a total of some fifty steel producers. In purchasing as well as in selling, the Japanese steel industry—like other Japanese industries—uses a unique Japanese organization, the Trading Company, as its agent to handle all activities related to business with foreign countries.
