Yoshigoro Obayashi - Obayashi Yoshigoro

Japanese: 大林芳五郎 - おおばやし・よしごろう

Year of death: January 24, 1916
Year of birth: September 14, 1864 (October 14, 1864)
A Meiji-era businessman. Founder of Obayashi Corporation. Son of salt and fertilizer merchant Tokushichi. He started out as a kimono merchant, but later trained under a civil engineering and construction contractor, working on construction projects for the Osaka Railway and others. In 1892, he became independent and founded Obayashi Corporation. He became acquainted with and developed a strong friendship with Iwashita Seishu, president of Kitahama Bank, and worked hard to modernize the construction industry. In 1909, he reorganized Obayashi Corporation into a limited partnership and became an advisor. With Iwashita's advice, he became involved with a dozen companies, including Hankyu and Kintetsu, as a major shareholder, and formed a powerful group with Iwashita and Kataoka, including founding Hiroshima Gas and the Hiroshima and Hankai Electric Tramways with Kataoka Naoki, president of Osaka Gas. Some of his most notable construction projects include Tokyo Station (completed in 1914), Fushimi Momoyama Imperial Mausoleum, Kintetsu's Ikoma Tunnel, and private railways such as Hankyu. When Kintetsu was founded, he rejected the original plan to build a cable over Mt. Ikoma, and instead insisted on a direct connection between Osaka and Nara through a tunnel, and took on the construction himself. When Kintetsu was stuck due to a series of unexpected construction difficulties and the Kitahama Bank, the main bank for both companies, was called in, Obayashi generously offered his personal fortune to help his benefactor, Iwashita. <References> Shirata Kihachiro, "The Life of Obayashi Yoshigoro," Biography of the Late Iwashita Seishuu, Editing Committee

(Ogawa Isao)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：大正5.1.24(1916)
生年：元治1.9.14(1864.10.14)
明治期の実業家。大林組の創業者。塩・肥料商の徳七の子。はじめ呉服商を営むが,のち土木建築工事請負業者の下で修業,大阪鉄道などの工事に従事。明治25(1892)年独立し大林組創立。北浜銀行頭取の岩下清周と相識り親交を深め,建設業の近代化に尽力。42年大林組を合資会社に改組,相談役就任。岩下の勧めで阪急,近鉄など十数社に大株主として関係し,大阪瓦斯社長の片岡直輝らと広島瓦斯,広島,阪堺両電気軌道を創立するなど,関西財界で岩下,片岡らと有力グループを形成した。手がけた代表的な工事には東京駅(1914年完成)を始め,伏見桃山御陵,近鉄の生駒トンネル,阪急などの私鉄がある。近鉄創立時,当初の生駒山をケーブルで越える原案を排し,トンネルによる大阪と奈良の直結を主張し自ら工事を請け負った。予期せぬ難工事の連続で近鉄が立ち往生し,両社のメーンバンクの北浜銀行が取り付けにあった際,大林は恩人岩下の救済に私財を潔く提供した。<参考文献>白田喜八郎『大林芳五郎伝』,故岩下清周君伝記編纂会『岩下清周伝』

(小川功)

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