Japanese settlers in Manchuria

[1] The Manchukuo government had seized great portions of these land through "price manipulation, coerced sales and forced evictions".

On August 10, 1945, one day after the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, the Japanese Army evacuated many families of officers and soldiers.

Katō Kanji was responsible for overseeing these migrations, and the Manchuria Colonization Company [ja] (満洲拓殖公社, manshū takushoku kousha) managed settling Japanese people into the country.

The idea of encouraging mass migration to Manchuria was conceived by Katō Kanji, among others, who wished to help agricultural communities in mainland Japan who were suffering from the Shōwa financial crisis by assisting their migration into mainland China; simultaneously establishing a Japanese military presence via the stationing of Tondenhei troops in the area with the purpose of counteracting Soviet influence in the region.

[7] As a result of the extent of the Second Sino-Japanese War, there was a significant decrease in the agricultural labor force of mainland Japan and a sharp fall in those willing to immigrate to Manchuria.

Approximately 20 million hectares of land was appropriated for Japanese settlers, or about 14.3% of the total area of Manchuria at the time.