Editing Mitsubishi (section)

=== World War II ===
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], which was often advertised in government propaganda as a total war, Mitsubishi was a key player in the nation's wartime economy. Educated in [[England]] and having many business friends and partners in the [[Anglosphere]], Koyata was opposed to fighting a war against the Allies. However, he famously stated in his speech on 10 December 1941 that once the country had decided to wage a war with the [[United States]] and the [[British Empire]], each member of the company ought to serve the country in fulfilling its only goal, but the company should not forget what it owed to people in these countries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=vol.19: In the Service of the Country |url=https://www.mitsubishi.com/ja/series/koyata/19/ |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=www.mitsubishi.com |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=河合敦 |title=『岩崎小弥太(いわさきこやた)』の意味と定義(全文) - 辞書辞典無料検索JLogos |url=http://www.jlogos.com/d013/14625101.html |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=『岩崎小弥太(いわさきこやた)』の意味と定義(全文) - 辞書辞典無料検索JLogos |language=ja}}</ref> [[File:Mitsubishi Zero-Yasukuni.jpg|thumb|Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" fighter]]

Arguably, one of the most tangible ways in which Mitsubishi was involved in the war was through its supply of ships, aircraft and other arms by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The [[Mitsubishi A6M Zero]] fighter, designed by Dr. [[Jiro Horikoshi]] was the primary fighter of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Imperial Navy]].<ref name="life1942110986">{{cite magazine|last1=Wilcox|first1=Richard|title=The Zero|date=9 November 1942|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JUAEAAAAMBAJ&q=wilcox+mitsubishi+1942&pg=PA86|magazine=Life Magazine|access-date=19 October 2020|archive-date=19 December 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219184617/https://books.google.com/books?id=JUAEAAAAMBAJ&q=wilcox+mitsubishi+1942&pg=PA86#v=snippet&q=wilcox%20mitsubishi%201942&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Mersky, Peter B. (Cmdr. USNR). [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Aces/index.html "Time of the Aces: Marine Pilots in the Solomons, 1942–1944."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429011315/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Aces/index.html |date=2012-04-29 }} ''ibiblio.org''. Retrieved: 30 July 2015.</ref><ref name="Hawks">Hawks, Chuck. [http://www.chuckhawks.com/best_fighter_planes.htm "The Best Fighter Planes of World War II"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809080818/http://www.chuckhawks.com/best_fighter_planes.htm |date=2017-08-09 }}. chuckhawks.com. Retrieved: 30 July 2015.</ref> Production of these equipments made Mitsubishi factories one of the main targets for allies attack, and in one factory the death toll among its workers amounted to 494 in just a week.<ref>{{Cite web |title=vol.20 空襲下で現場を激励 {{!}} 三菱グループサイト |url=https://www.mitsubishi.com/ja/series/koyata/20/ |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=www.mitsubishi.com |language=ja}}</ref>  Mitsubishi Mining was involved in the forced labour of Allied prisoners of war and people from Japan's colonies and occupied territories such as Korea and parts of China. The company's Iizuka mine counted 19 deaths of Chinese labourers during the war.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-24 |title=Chinese Forced Labourers Commemorated at Former Mitsubishi Iizuka Mine |url=https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQCS7488QCHTGPB001.html?iref=ogimage_rek |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=[[The Asahi Shimbun]] |language=ja}}</ref> In 2015, [[Mitsubishi Materials]] (formerly Mitsubishi Mining) compensated 3,765 Chinese labourers who were conscripted to the company during the war and apologised to ex-American prisoners of war.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mitsubishi to compensate forced Chinese labourers in WWII - timesofindia-economictimes |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-24/news/64817007_1_mitsubishi-materials-chinese-victims-compensation |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305114303/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-07-24/news/64817007_1_mitsubishi-materials-chinese-victims-compensation |archive-date=2016-03-05 |access-date=2018-12-02}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-mitsubishimaterials-apology/mitsubishi-materials-apologizes-for-using-u-s-pows-as-slave-labor-idUSKCN0PU02620150720 | title=Mitsubishi Materials apologizes for using U.S. POWs as slave labor | work=Reuters | date=20 July 2015 | access-date=19 July 2015 | archive-date=24 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924221449/http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/20/us-usa-mitsubishimaterials-apology-idUSKCN0PU02620150720 | url-status=live }}</ref> Mitsubishi was involved in the [[opium]] trade in China during this period.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hastings |first=Max |author-link=Max Hastings |title=Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944–45 |publisher=Vintage |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-3072-7536-3 |location=New York |page=413}}</ref>