一战时期，日本抢占原属德国的密克罗尼西亚群岛（日本称南洋群岛），1922年日本正式设立南洋厅，开始实行殖民统治。在南洋厅的支持下，南洋兴发株式会社以制糖业为中心推进殖民地工业建设，先后经历了20世纪20年代的创业阶段、30年代向其他太平洋岛屿扩张的阶段及40年代的衰亡阶段。南洋兴发株式会社自始至终协助日本政府巩固在密克罗尼西亚群岛的殖民统治，并协助日本海军参与太平洋战争，是服务于近代日本帝国主义殖民扩张的垄断企业，其命运伴随日本帝国主义的扩张而兴起，最终亦因日本战败而解体消亡。
During the First World War，Japan occupied the Micronesia （South Sea Islands），which originally belonged to Germany. In 1922，Japan officially established the Nanyo Cho and began to implement civil colonial rule. Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha was formally established in November 1921. With the support of Nanyo Cho，Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha promoted the colonial industry construction with the sugar industry as the center. It has experienced the entrepreneurial stage in the 1920s，the expansion to other Pacific islands in the 1930s and the decline in the 1940s. Nanyo Kohatsu Kabushiki Kaisha assisted the Japanese government to consolidate the colonial rule in the Micronesia and assisted the Japanese navy to participate in the Pacific War from beginning to end. It is a company serving the external expansion of modern Japanese imperialism.
