War, Peace, and Nonweapons Technology.

The article discusses the shift from wood to steel and the influence of war and peace in the development of all-steel construction of railcars in Japan from the 1880s to the 1950s. Wooden construction of railcars dominated Japan before the 1920s since wood was cheap and readily available. But safety concerns led to half-wood, half-steel railcars. The demands for steel in World War II meant less steel for railcars despite the safety issues. By war's end, only 47% of coaches were functional.