Production Technology in Japan During Ten Years of War (1938 - 45)

During the Ten-Year War 1935-1945, the Japanese Navy played a leading role in the R&D and production of domestic aviation fuels and high-grade lubricants, by means of technological imports from abroad (mainly from the U.S.A.) at the beginning and of self-development in the latter part of the period. One of the features is a hydrogenation process, which was started with catalyst development and successfully achieved production in large-scale plants. The efforts also achieved certain self-sufficiency in high-grade lubricants that had been dependent on imports.