The inventory list from the secondhand goods shipment by Heiji Maru Ueyama was very clear. The clearer it was, the greater the pressure he felt. Sweat dripped down his face, a few drops soaking the bottom column of the list. The sweat had soaked a line of Arabic numerals: 587... This was five million eight hundred and seventy thousand US dollars, not Japanese yen.
Japan's annual industrial output was only a little over six billion yen in 1937. This sum of over five million US dollars is a considerable amount for Japan as a whole, and an even larger sum for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. While it wouldn't bankrupt Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it would certainly be a major blow. This is equivalent to the annual salaries of 200,000 Japanese workers, the total equipment value of an army divisio
