The Ministry of Munitions was created on 1 November 1943 out of the Board of Planning of the
Ministry of Commerce and Industry, which was subsequently abolished. With an increasing portion of Japan's industrial base and
infrastructure damaged by
Allied air raids, the Japanese government felt it necessary to unify the administration of munitions production to improve efficiency and to increase production levels, particularly that of
military aircraft. The concept was inspired by the German Ministry of Armaments and Munitions under
Fritz Todt and
Albert Speer, which had successfully increased
Nazi Germany's industrial production under similar adverse conditions, and was also an unsuccessful political move by the military to impose more control over the
zaibatsu. Although
Prime Minister Tōjō concurrently was first Minister of Munitions, the actual day-to-day running of the Ministry devolved to his deputy,
Nobusuke Kishi. Key firms were designated as components of the
nationalized Munitions Companies System, and managers were given positions as government officials. Production staff was regarded as
conscript labor and was not allowed to quit, or go on
strike. State-controlled financial institutions provided
working capital and subsidized the firms for any losses. The Ministry of Munitions was abolished in 1945, by the
American occupation authorities, and its functions were absorbed into the modern
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). ==Organization==