Okura Mining - Okura Kogyo

Japanese: 大倉鉱業 - おおくらこうぎょう

…After the Meiji Restoration, he inspected the economic society of Europe and America, and in 1873, he established the Okuragumi Shokai and embarked on foreign trade and supply business. He connected with politicians and the military, and made huge profits by procuring and transporting military supplies during the Taiwan Expedition, the Seinan War, the Sino-Japanese War, and the Russo-Japanese War. During this time, he also started construction projects, and in 1993, the Okuragumi Shokai was reorganized as the Okuragumi General Partnership Company. In the Taisho period, the Okura Zaibatsu was established, with the three direct descendants of Okura Shoji, Okura Kogyo, and Okura Doboku at its core. Among entrepreneurs of the time, he was extremely proactive in expanding into mainland China, and in 1911, he established the Benxihu Coal and Iron Company (Kons), a steel manufacturing company, in Manchuria (northeastern China), and started many other businesses in China and Korea. …

From the Okura Zaibatsu

...A zaibatsu (commercial conglomerate) founded by political businessman Kihachiro Okura in one generation. Taking advantage of the upheaval of the Meiji Restoration and the end of the Edo period, he rose to prominence through firearms sales, and in the Meiji period, he expanded his business to include political business activities such as supplying military supplies and trade. Using the capital he accumulated, he established the Okura Gumi Partnership (established in 1893) as a holding company, and during World War I, a conglomerate was formed with three direct descendants of Okura Shoji, Okura Kogyo, and Okura Doboku as its core businesses. As a powerful figure in the financial world, he was involved in the establishment of many companies and invested in them, so by the early Showa period, the number of companies in which he invested had risen to over 100, and although it was not as large as the large general conglomerates (Mitsui and Mitsubishi), it had developed into a conglomerate with second-class capital. ...

*Some of the terminology used in reference to "Okura Mining" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…明治維新後は欧米の経済社会を視察したうえ，73年に大倉組商会を設立して外国貿易および用達事業に乗り出し，政治家や軍部と結びつき，台湾出兵，西南戦争，日清戦争，日露戦争の軍需物資調達や輸送で巨利を得た。この間，建設事業にも着手するとともに，93年大倉組商会は合名会社大倉組に改組され，大正期に入ると，大倉商事，大倉鉱業，大倉土木の直系3社を中核とする大倉財閥の体制を確立していった。当時の企業家のなかでは中国大陸への事業進出にきわめて積極的であり，1911年満州(中国東北部)に製鉄事業の本渓湖煤鉄公司（コンス）を設立したのをはじめ，中国や朝鮮に数多くの事業をおこした。…

【大倉財閥】より

…政商大倉喜八郎が一代で創設した財閥。幕末･維新の動乱に乗じて銃砲販売で台頭した彼は，明治期に軍需物資用達などの政商活動や貿易活動を中心に事業を拡大したが，そこで蓄積した資本を基礎に，合名会社大倉組(1893設立)を持株会社とし，大倉商事，大倉鉱業，大倉土木の直系3社を事業の中核とするコンツェルン機構が第1次世界大戦期に形成された。また彼は財界の有力者として多数の会社の設立に関与し，出資していたため，昭和初期には投資先会社数が100社以上にのぼり，巨大総合財閥(三井，三菱)には及ばないものの，第二級の資本規模を有する財閥に発展した。…

※「大倉鉱業」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

<<: Okura mine

>>: Okuragumi Shokai - Okuragumi Introduction