Naokichi Kaneko

A businessman from the Meiji, Taisho and Showa periods. Born into a fallen merchant family in Nanagawa Village, Agawa County, Kochi Prefecture, Kaneko served as an apprentice in his hometown for a time before joining Suzuki Shoten in Kobe at the age of 21. After the death of the head of the family, Iwajiro, Kaneko took over management as a clerk under the widow, Yone, and with his extraordinary entrepreneurial ability and aggressive and bold business expansion strategies, he grew the store, which was merely a sugar dealer, into one of Japan's leading general trading companies, while also building a large corporate group with 65 companies under its umbrella at its peak. In particular, his desire to expand the business was most fruitful during World War I, when Suzuki Shoten boldly engaged in speculative trading of steel materials, ships and other commodities, suddenly recording the largest turnover in Japan. It was also at this time that Kaneko made his famous declaration that "we will divide the world with Mitsui and Mitsubishi." However, his expansion policy reached a dead end in the prolonged recession after the war, and he tried to maintain his business by relying too heavily on the Bank of Taiwan, which went bankrupt in the financial panic of 1927 (Showa 2). With financing cut off, Suzuki Shoten also went bankrupt, and the group of companies under its umbrella were forced to disperse. Kaneko then attempted to revive Suzuki Shoten and once again expand into various businesses, but died of illness in 1944 before he could achieve his goal. Although his business management ultimately failed, his activities as a businessman are highly regarded for the fact that his group of companies went on to become major companies in the Japanese economy, such as Kobe Steel and Teijin, and for training many talented people.

[Takao Shiba]

"Yoshio Katsura, 'The Origin of General Trading Companies: Suzuki Shoten' (Nikkei Shinsho)" ▽ "Yuji Shiraishi, 'The Life of Naokichi Kaneko' (1950, Kaneko Yanagida Memorial Society)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正・昭和期の実業家。高知県吾川(あがわ)郡名野川村の没落商家に生まれ、一時郷里で丁稚(でっち)奉公をしたのち、21歳のとき神戸の鈴木商店に入店した。当主岩治郎の死後、未亡人よねの下で番頭として経営を担当し、非凡な企業者能力と積極的で大胆な事業拡大戦略とによって、一砂糖引取商にすぎなかった同店を日本有数の総合商社に育て上げると同時に、傘下に最盛時65社といわれる一大企業集団をつくりあげた。とくに、彼の事業拡大への意欲がもっとも成果をあげたのは第一次世界大戦時で、このとき鈴木商店は大胆に鉄材、船舶などの諸商品に思惑(おもわく)取引を敢行して、一挙に日本最大の取扱高を示すに至った。著名な「三井、三菱(みつびし)と天下を三分する」という宣言を金子が行ったのもこのときであった。しかし、彼のこうした拡大方針は大戦後、不況が長期化するなかで行き詰まり、台湾銀行に過度に依存して事業を維持しようとしたため、1927年（昭和2）の金融恐慌で同行が破綻(はたん)すると、金融の途を断たれて鈴木商店も破綻し、傘下企業集団は分散を余儀なくされた。その後、金子は鈴木商店の復活を図って再度種々の事業を展開したが、果たせないままに昭和19年病没した。最終的にはその事業経営は蹉跌(さてつ)したが、傘下から神戸製鋼所、帝人など、その後の日本経済に大きな位置を占める企業を輩出し、多数の有能な人材を育成したことで、彼の企業者活動は高く評価されている。

［柴　孝夫］

『桂芳男著『総合商社の源流・鈴木商店』（日経新書）』▽『白石友治著『金子直吉伝』（1950・金子柳田両翁頌徳会）』

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