Eiichi Shibusawa

Founded in 1873, Dai-Ichi Kokuritsu Ginkō (the First National Bank) was Japan’s first national bank.
Eiichi Shibusawa was deeply involved in its creation.
In the Meiji era (1868–1912), he persuaded two major financial groups, Mitsui-gumi and Ono-gumi, to establish Mitsui Ono Kumiai Bank.
At the same time, he helped draft the National Bank Ordinance.
The ordinance aimed to reorganize existing currency, issue new banknotes, and create institutions where people could borrow money.
In 1872, the government promulgated the National Bank Ordinance.
With government approval, Shibusawa reorganized Mitsui Ono Kumiai Bank into the First National Bank, establishing Japan’s first national bank.
As interest in founding national banks spread across the country, he actively supported new openings.
Many banks he helped launch still operate today.
Needless to say, the spread of banks nationwide fueled industrial growth.
That is why he is also known as the father of banking.

When Eiichi Shibusawa traveled to Europe, he learned how joint-stock companies worked and was deeply impressed.
After returning to Japan, his first venture in Shizuoka Domain (present-day Shizuoka Prefecture) raised capital from the domain and wealthy local farmers, effectively using a joint-stock-like structure.
In 1871, while serving in a key government post, he published Rikkai Ryakusoku, a guide promoting the joint-stock company system.
This helped spark a wave of company formation across Japan.
He didn’t just advocate the idea, he also helped establish the First National Bank, often regarded as Japan’s first joint-stock company.
While running the bank, he promoted the joint-stock model among entrepreneurs and executives and supported a wide range of ventures.

Eiichi Shibusawa is said to have been involved in founding over 500 companies in his lifetime.
Many are still well-known today.
For example, the First National Bank continues as Mizuho Bank. Other names include Sapporo Breweries, Toho Gas, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Asahi Breweries, and Nippon Yusen (NYK Line), the list goes on.
Beyond companies, he also helped establish the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which supports small and midsize businesses.
This is why he is called the father of Japanese business.

Eiichi Shibusawa was born in what is now Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture, as the son of a well-off farming family.
From childhood, he studied classics such as the Analects and Nihon Gaishi and devoted himself to learning.
At the same time, he went shopping with his grandfather and showed a knack for negotiation, sourcing quality materials at lower prices.
In his twenties, he frequently traveled to Edo (present-day Tokyo) to study scholarship and swordsmanship.

While studying in Edo, Eiichi Shibusawa embraced the sonnō jōi movement, “revere the Emperor, expel the foreigners.”
In the late Edo period, Japan’s isolation policy collapsed and the start of foreign trade threw society into turmoil.
Public distrust toward the Tokugawa shogunate grew, and more people argued that political authority should rest with the Emperor rather than the shogun.
As anti-foreign sentiment merged with pro-Emperor ideas, sonnō jōi supporters increased and the movement radicalized.
Shibusawa also became deeply involved and eventually planned an attack on Yokohama Port, a key trade hub.
However, comrades persuaded him to abandon the plan, citing the faction’s disadvantage, and he called it off.
To avoid bringing trouble to his family, he sought help from Hiraoka Ensirō, a retainer of the prestigious Hitotsubashi family, and fled to Kyoto.

While in hiding in Kyoto and still plotting, Shibusawa was encouraged to join the service of Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu through Hiraoka Ensirō’s connections.
Yoshinobu would later become shogun, so Shibusawa hesitated as it seemed to clash with his beliefs. Still, he accepted and returned to Edo.
Once he began working under the shogunate, his diligence and talent were recognized, and he was appointed kanjō kumigashira, a post overseeing the Hitotsubashi family’s finances.

The lord he served succeeded to the shogunate and became Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the 15th shogun.
Meanwhile, moves to topple the shogunate intensified.
After joining the conflict against Chōshū Domain (present-day Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Satsuma Domain (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture), Shibusawa became a shogunal retainer.
He was then selected as part of the shogunate delegation to the 1867 Paris Exposition and traveled to France.
He also visited Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and more, witnessing languages, cutting-edge science, infrastructure, and social systems, and realizing how far behind Japan was globally.
He was especially impressed by banking and joint-stock companies, and studied European economics in depth.
These experiences reshaped his values and became a major turning point in his life.

When he returned to Japan, power had shifted from the Tokugawa shogunate to the new government.
Even so, he decided to return to Tokugawa Yoshinobu and work under him.
In Shizuoka, where Yoshinobu lived in seclusion, Shibusawa raised funds from local merchants and founded Shōhō Kaisho.
It was a finance-and-trading venture with bank-like functions and a joint-stock-like structure.
While running Shōhō Kaisho, he was urged and persuaded by the government to take a post in the Minbu-shō, which was effectively unified with the Ministry of Finance (the ministry overseeing national finances).
In office, he promoted organizational and tax reforms, created innovative systems, and even planned initiatives that became the foundation of Japan’s postal system.
Though he rose to a key position at the Ministry of Finance, internal conflict led him to resign. He chose to contribute to commercial development through private enterprise.

Eiichi Shibusawa persuaded two leading financial groups of the time, Mitsui-gumi and Ono-gumi, to form Mitsui Ono Kumiai Bank.
With government approval, it was reorganized into Dai-Ichi Kokuritsu Ginkō (the First National Bank, now Mizuho Bank), becoming Japan’s first national bank.
After resigning from government, Shibusawa became a supervising executive overseeing directors of Mitsui-gumi and Ono-gumi.
As he worked to put the First National Bank on track, he also engaged in many ventures, including sericulture, civil engineering, and trade.
After the bankruptcy of Ono-gumi, he became head of the First National Bank.
While driving management reforms, he also supported the founding of other national banks, contributing to bank establishment across Japan.

He then applied what he had learned in France and became involved in a wide range of ventures.
He helped lead Japan’s first major initiatives in fields such as paper manufacturing, spinning, brick production, and beer brewing companies with their own breweries.
He also contributed greatly to infrastructure like electricity and gas, as well as shipping and land transportation.
Rather than using wealth gained from business for himself, he directed it toward public causes such as welfare, education, and international exchange.
In 1909, he announced his retirement from business, and formally retired in 1916. He died of illness in 1931.
By the time of his death, he had been involved in over 500 ventures.
He helped establish Japan’s first bank, spread the joint-stock company model, and contributed to public causes.
By uniting ethics and economics and driving Japan’s modernization, Eiichi Shibusawa earned the title “father of Japanese business.”

After his plan to attack Yokohama Port fell through, Eiichi Shibusawa decided to flee to avoid causing trouble for his family.
He borrowed what would be roughly 2 million yen in today’s terms from his father as travel and escape funds and headed for Edo, but ended up spending around 500,000 yen of it at a pleasure quarter.
Even if he felt he might die the next day, it’s hard to justify wasting money his parents gave him to escape.

Eiichi Shibusawa had two wives in his lifetime and fathered seven children with them.
That alone feels like a lot by today’s standards, but it’s said he had at least 20 children outside his marriages.
Including children he never acknowledged, some say the total may have been around 100.
Stories remain of affairs with household maids and even having a mistress live in the same home as his wife, episodes that feel hard to imagine today.

Opened in 1890 at the request of the Meiji government to host overseas dignitaries as Japan modernized, the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo was founded by leading figures of the time.
For the first 19 years after opening, Eiichi Shibusawa, one of the lead founders, guided its management and served as its first chairman.
Today, around 2,000 staff members, including bell staff, concierges, and laundry specialists, welcome guests from Japan and abroad. Its refined service and hospitality are loved by travelers worldwide.

Kawagoe is a charming town where you can enjoy nostalgic streetscapes, despite being only Approx. 1 hour from central Tokyo.
One of its signature sights is Toki no Kane (Bell of Time). Among the rows of traditional warehouse-style buildings, it stands out as an iconic landmark.
The wooden, three-tier tower is about 16 meters tall. The bell rings four times a day, at 6:00, noon, 15:00, and 18:00, marking the time.
After a major fire in 1893, Toki no Kane needed rebuilding.
Eiichi Shibusawa is said to have raised relief funds and donated over 1 million yen himself.