1971: ~8 m GT built for Japan; 05/03/71: the 1^st “Fortune” bulk carrier lunched, 21,500 dwt, 15k speed; 1972: 82% of the Japan’s fleet aged < 10 years

1973 Sock 1: the revaluation of Yen; high losses run by shipbuilders; 1973 Sock 2: the 1^st oil crisis (Japan had 34 m GT of orders, a peak); 1974: a drastic reduction of tanker orders

1975: 300,000 workers employed in shipyards; 1976 Decision: Japan had to cut shipbuilding capacity; 1977: Greeks ordered 167 ships

1977: the order backlog < 10 m GT; smaller yards closed; 1978: a Price War started; 1978: only 3.2 m GT of orders for Japan

Decision: capacity had to be cut by 35% by 1980

1978-end: employment at 247,000

1980: S Korea appeared: a threat since 1978

1980: Japanese attracted the 60% of the global orders

1981: Japanese yards completed 8.4 GT m, about 1/2 of the world total

1981-1987: the bulk carriers crisis

1982 (Jul.) Decision: to dispose shipbuilding surplus production facilities in 61 companies by various %

1983 Decision: to increase subsidies to yards

1986: the 5 larger yards lost 48b Y; 1988-end: Japan suffered still from the revaluation of the Yen

1989: the 7 major yards planned to cut employment by 22,650 persons

Source: data from MOT report on Japanese Shipbuilding, 1986