From Advance into Islands in the South Sea to Invasion: From the Albatross to Guano/Phosphate Ore Mining

Abstract

This chapter examines how guano (accumulated bird droppings)/phosphate ore was added to the aims of the Japanese, along with the bird trapping, from around 1905. The area in which hunting such birds as albatross had expanded as far as the Pacific. However, bird resources including the albatross, which was initially Japan’s reason for advancing into the Pacific, were being depleted rapidly. Guano/phosphate ore became another reason for their activities. Unlike plumage, which is light and easy to transport, the extraction of guano/phosphate ore required a multitude of laborers for mining and various types of machinery, along with an infrastructure for transportation and large steamships for shipping. Here the agents of these activities shifted from speculators to commercial capital and then to monopolistic capital. As for phosphate ore, an increase in its importance for military purposes led to advancement by the Japanese military into the South Sea Islands. Eventually many companies were involved in heated competition for access to mining right on those islands.