Iwasaki Yatarō

In thisJapanese name,thesurnameisIwasaki.

Iwasaki Yatarō
Nham kỳ di quá lang
Born	(1835-01-09)January 9, 1835 Aki,Tosa Province,Japan
Died	February 7, 1885(1885-02-07)(aged 50) Tokyo,Japan
Occupation	Industrialist
Known for	Founder ofMitsubishi
Japanese name
Kyūjitai	Nham kỳ di quá lang
Shinjitai	Nham kỳ di quá lang
Transcriptions Romanization Iwasaki Yatarō

Iwasaki Yatarō(Nham kỳ di quá lang,January 9, 1835 – February 7, 1885)was aJapaneseindustrialistandfinancierknown as the founder ofMitsubishi,one of Japan's largest conglomerates.

Early life

Yatarō Iwasaki was born on 9 January 1835 inAki,Tosa Province(nowKōchi Prefecture) into a provincial farming family. Iwasaki's family had been members of thesamuraiwarrior nobility, but his great great grandfather, Iwasaki Yajiemon (Nham kỳ di thứ hữu vệ môn) had sold off his family'ssamuraistatus in obligation of debts during theGreat Tenmei famine.His family derived from Iwasaki clan that was a branch ofTakeda clanofKai Province(Giáp phỉ võ Điền thị). The ancestor of Iwasaki clan was Iwasaki Nobutaka (Nham kỳ tin long) known as Takeda Shichirō (Võ điền thất lang) who was the fifth son of Takeda Nobumitsu. The Iwasaki clan served Aki clan (An vân thị), andChōsokabe clan(Trường tông ta bộ thị) at theBattle of Sekigahara(October 21, 1600).

Iwasaki began his career as an employee of theYamauchi clan,the ruling clan of theTosa Domainwhich had business interests in many parts of Japan. Iwasaki left forEdoaged nineteen for his education, but his studies were interrupted a year later when his father was seriously injured in a dispute with the village headman. Iwasaki accused the localmagistrateofcorruptionfor refusing to hear his case, and was subsequently sent to prison for seven months after he was kicked out from his village. After his release, Iwasaki was without a permanent job for a time before finding work as a tutor. Iwasaki returned to Edo, where he socialised with political activists and studied under theYoshida Toyo,a reformist andmodernizationadvocate from Tosa Province. Yoshida was employed byYamauchi Toyoshige,thedaimyō(lord) of the Tosa Domain, and he influenced Iwasaki with ideas of opening and developing the then-closed Japan through industry and foreign trade. Iwasaki found work as a clerk for the Yamauchi government through Yoshida, and eventually bought back his family'ssamuraistatus. Iwasaki was promoted to the top position at the Yamauchi clan's trading office inNagasakiinHizen Province,responsible for tradingcamphor oiland paper to buy ships, weapons, and ammunition.

Mitsubishi

Main article:Mitsubishi

(Left):Mon(family crest) of theYamauchiinspired the logo ofMitsubishi(right)

Iwasaki Yataro, c1870s

Iwasaki travelled toOsakafollowing theMeiji Restorationin 1868 which overthrew the rulingTokugawa Shogunate,abolishing thefeudalsystem in Japan and forcing the disbandment of the shogunate's business interests. In March 1870, Iwasaki became president of the Tsukumo Trading Company, ashippingcompany founded on behalf of the Yamauchi clan, and leased the trading rights. In 1873, the company changed its name to Mitsubishi, a compound ofmitsu( "three" ) andhishi(literally, "water chestnut",often used in Japanese to denote arhombusor diamond). Mitsubishi's emblem was a combination of the Iwasaki family crest, showing three overlappinglozenges,and the crest with threeoakleaves, arranged in a threefoldrotational symmetry,of the Yamauchi family, which controlled the part ofShikokuwhere Yatarō was born.

From 1874 to 1875, Iwasaki was contracted by the Japanese government to transport Japanese soldiers and war materials. The Japanese government purchased a number of ships for theJapanese Expedition of 1874 to Taiwanagainst thePaiwan Aboriginesin southeastTaiwan,and these ships were later given to Mitsubishi after the expedition was finished in 1875. This created strong links between Mitsubishi and the Japanese government that ensured the new company's success. In return, Mitsubishi supported the new Japanese government and transported troops who defeated theSatsuma Rebellionin 1877. Thus, the success of Mitsubishi became intertwined with the rise of the modern Japanese state and economy and one of the "Big Four"zaibatsucompanies. In 1885, a merger of Mitsubishi shipping activities with competitor Kyodo Unyu Kaisha (founded 1882) led to the adoption of the company's nameNippon YusenKabushiki Kaisha, or 'NYK' in short, which still exists and is one of the largest global shipping groups.

Subsequently, Iwasaki invested inmining,ship repair, andfinanceindustries in addition to shipping. In 1884, Iwasaki took a lease on the Nagasaki Shipyard, which allowed the company to undertakeshipbuildingon a large scale and renamed it the Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, which are now part of itsMitsubishi Heavy Industriesindustrial branch.

Iwasaki often held dinners for dignitaries, spending a huge amount of money on these occasions, but he also made many friends who later helped him by doing favors.

Death

Iwasaki died ofstomach canceron 7 February 1885, aged 50, and was succeeded as the head of the family business first by his brother,Iwasaki Yanosuke,and later his son, Hisaya. In 1903, Iwasaki's fourth daughter, Masako, married BaronShidehara Kijūrō,the firstPrime Minister of JapanafterWorld War II.

Popular culture

Iwasaki serves as the secondary protagonist of the 49thNHKTaiga drama,Ryōma den,focusing on his activities during theBakumatsu,and also serves as the framing narrator of the story. He is portrayed byTeruyuki Kagawa.

See also

• Thomas Blake Glover
• Kiyosumi Garden

Sources

• Jones, Geoffrey Gareth, Masako Egawa, and Mayuka Yamazaki. "Yataro Iwasaki: Founding Mitsubishi (A)." (Harvard Business School Case 808-158, 2009).
• Miyajawa, Takayasu. "Hisaya Iwasaki and the Wharton School."Japanese Yearbook on Business History16 (2000): 91-112.online
• "The Man Who Started It All",Mitsubishi
• "The Mitsubishi Mark",Mitsubishi
• "The origin of MHI can be traced all the way back to 1884",MHI-ir.jp
• Weston, Mark (July 1999).Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan's Greatest Men and Women.New York: Kodansha America.ISBN1-56836-286-2.
• Woy, Jean L. (2005).The Human Record: Sources of Global History.Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. pp. 353–356.ISBN0-618-04247-4.
• Yamamura, Kozo (Summer 1967). "The Founding of Mitsubishi: A Case Study in Japanese Business History".The Business History Review.41(2): 141–160.doi:10.2307/3112564.JSTOR3112564.S2CID156454000.

External links

• Media related toIwasaki Yataroat Wikimedia Commons