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I'd like to the an analysis using historical economic data of Japan and Germany. For that I'm trying to figure out, if data exists from before 1945 of economic production in different japanese and german cities. I'd like to find some measure to, for example, compare the industrial output of Kyoto and Hiroshima from 1935 to 1945.

Does anyone know, if such data exists and where I would start searching for it?

I found this Wikipedia article about Industrial Production in Shōwa Japan but it lacks any citations.

Most promising would be the book Historical Statistics of Japan. However, I can't seem to find it online or in my library. Buying it from Japan for a high price isn't worth it to me, since I'm not even sure if the relevant data is inside.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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    For Germany, this would be the best place to start: Homepage - German Federal Statistical Office. An eMail with a very specific request would probably result a useful answer. Aug 19, 2021 at 10:44
  • Great suggestion, I just filled out their contact form with a request.
    – Tototulbi
    Aug 19, 2021 at 11:50
  • I wouldn't be surprised if the Japanese data would be still unpublished. For your specific example: it is unlikely that Kyoto had major industrial output compared to Hiroshima, where eg one of the biggest shipyards built and run in those years.
    – Greg
    Aug 24, 2021 at 12:44
  • What @MarkJohnson suggested worked out pretty well, thanks a lot! They were very helpful and did a cursory search of their archives for free and gave valuable tips. For anyone else wondering: The most extensive source for city-level data in Germany is the book series "Statistisches Jahrbuch Deutscher Gemeinden" resp. "Statistisches Jahrbuch Deutscher Städte" before 1934. The economic data I was looking for was sadly not in the pre-WW2 books. I'm now kind of assuming that the type of data has not been aggregated for that time period.
    – Tototulbi
    Oct 25, 2021 at 10:44
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    I would suggest making answer out of your comment. Oct 25, 2021 at 10:55

2 Answers 2

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What @MarkJohnson suggested worked out pretty well. I contacted the Homepage - German Federal Statistical Office

They were very helpful and did a cursory search of their archives for free and gave valuable tips.

The information I have thus far: The most extensive source for city-level data in Germany is the book series "Statistisches Jahrbuch Deutscher Gemeinden" resp. "Statistisches Jahrbuch Deutscher Städte" before 1934. The economic data I was looking for was sadly not in the pre-WW2 books. I'm now kind of assuming that the type of data has not been aggregated for that time period.

ETA: I got the information from the Japanese statistical bureau that this type of city-level data probably doesn't exist for Japan (in an aggregated form).

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Even though I am a native Japanese speaker, it is too difficult to pinpoint the city oriented data propr the WW2.

According to our famous university'd data, ,

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based on the 1990 dollar base, the gross domestice production per capita as of 1935 of Japan is around 2000,(日本), while Britain(英国) 5,900, the U.S 5,700(米国).

For the reference.

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