Shibusawa Eiichi

Biography

Shibusawa was born on 16 March 1840, in a farmhouse in Chiaraijima (located in the present-day city of Fukaya in Saitama Prefecture). As a boy, he learned reading and writing from his father. He grew up helping with the family business of dry field farming, indigo production and sale, and silk raising and later studied the Confucian classics and the history of Japan under Odaka Junchu, a scholar who was his cousin.

Under the influence of sonnō jōi (expel the barbarians; revere the emperor) sentiment, he formulated a plan along with cousins and friends to capture Takasaki Castle and set fires in the foreign settlement in Yokohama. Ultimately, however, this plan was canceled and he moved on to Kyoto.

Shibusawa left his hometown at the age of twenty-three, and entered the service of Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu (then in line for the position of shōgun). He distinguished himself by his work in strengthening the household finances of the Hitotsubashi family.

When he was twenty-seven years old, he visited France and other European countries as a member of Tokugawa Akitake's delegation to the Exposition Universelle (1867). On this trip Shibusawa observed modern European societies and cultures for the first time, and realized the importance of industrial and economic development.

After returning from Europe at the news of the change of governments now known as the Meiji Restoration, he established the Shōhō Kaishō, one of the first joint-stock companies in Japan, in Shizuoka Prefecture. Afterwards, he was invited by the Meiji government to become a member of the Ministry of Finance, where he became a driving force in the building of a modern Japan as head of the Kaisei Kakari, or office of the Ministry of Finance in charge of reform.

In 1873 Shibusawa resigned from the Ministry of Finance and became the president of the Dai-Ichi Bank (First National Bank). This was Japan's first modern bank, established under his own guidance while still employed by the Ministry of Finance. With this bank as a base, Shibusawa devoted himself to founding and encouraging businesses of all sorts.

Shibusawa was an advocate throughout his life of the idea that good ethics and business should be in harmony. The number of enterprises in which he was involved as founder or supporter is said to exceed five hundred, and includes Mizuho Financial Group, The 77 Bank, Tokio Marine Nichido, Imperial Hotel, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Tokyo Gas, Toyobo, Tokyu Corporation, Keihan Electric Railway, Taiheiyo Cement, Oji Paper Company, Sapporo Breweries, NYK Line, Tokyo Jinzo Hiryo (Tokyo Artificial Fertilizer Company), and the Gyeongin Railway and the Gyeongbu Railway in Korea. He was president of the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, he spearheaded many works for the betterment of society, and was an enthusiastic supporter of education, especially higher education in the field of business such as current Hitotsubashi University and current Tokyo Keizai University, higher education for women, and private schools. Shibusawa involved himself in some 600 projects related to education, social welfare and others. In addition, Shibusawa made efforts to promote the exchange of goods and good will across national boundaries through private-sector diplomacy. In 1902 he visited Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

In 1920, Baron Shibusawa and members of the Mitsui & Company, along with other Japanese business leaders greeted the first official U.S. business delegation to visit Japan. This U.S. delegation was led by Frank A. Vanderlip accompanied by other US business and political leaders and some of their wives. These visitors included: Harry E. Benedict, Henry W. Taft, Jacob G. Shurman, Darwin Kingsley, Julian Street, Seymour L. Cromwell President of the New York Stock Exchange, Lewis L. Clark, Lyman Judson Gage, American financier and Presidential Cabinet officer, George Eastman American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company. Eiichi Shibusawa had invited these U.S. representatives to visit Japan to bridge their nations diplomatically and promote increased business and commerce.

Shibusawa died at the age of ninety-one on 11 November 1931.

Humanitarianism during the Late Ottoman genocides During the period of the Late Ottoman genocides, Shibusawa chaired the Armenian Relief Committee of Japan in Tokyo, helping to save the lives of hundreds of Armenian and Greek refugees. Through his efforts, several Japanese newspapers published articles on the subject, spreading awareness and urging individuals to donate and assist however they could.

Honors

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (24 August 1911) (Fourth Class: 19 July 1892) Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun with Paulownia Flowers (10 November 1928) Honorary member, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1929) Senior Second Rank (10 November 1931)

The Nobel Prize Shibusawa was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926 by the prime minister of Japan.

In fiction Shibusawa Eiichi, mainly portrayed by Ryo Yoshizawa, is the main protagonist in the 60th Taiga Drama, Reach Beyond The Blue Sky, aired during 2021 on NHK.

Shibusawa, along with many other famous historical figures from the Meiji Restoration, is also a supporting character in the historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari by Aramata Hiroshi. In the 1988 adaptation, known in the west as Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, he is portrayed by renowned Japanese actor Katsu Shintarō. In the animated adaptation his voice is done by Osamu Saka.

Baron Shibusawa is highlighted in the historical novel The Emperor and the Spy by Stan S. Katz. During the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Baron Shibusawa is shown actively engaged in assisting many of the Japanese who were injured during that major disaster. The friendship between Baron Shibusawa and Prince Iesato Tokugawa is also presented in this novel.