Is there something missing here?

Reiji Yoshida and Jun Hongo of the Japan Times take on Gen. Tamogami's view of Japan in Asia during WW2 and interview a few historians to get a more informed, accurate version of what Japan did during the war.

Interestingly, they wrote the following:

Japan's colonial policy, however, was largely aimed to help the economy at home, and Japan later further exploited the colonies' economies to help it continue the fight in China and against the Allies.

In Korea, Japan forced locals to adopt Japanese family names and worship Shinto, while limiting Korean-language education, which all gave rise to strong anti-Japanese sentiment.

Japan in addition inflicted devastating economic damage on China and other parts of Asia in the 1930s and '40s.

Economic damage? Didn't the damage inflicted---especially on China---include a bit more than economic damage? Wasn't there a huge cost in human lives?

Perhaps I'm being too picky by noticing this omission.