Tomoatsu Godai

Japanese: 五代友厚 - ごだい・ともあつ

Year of death: September 25, 1885 (Meiji 18)
Year of birth: Tempo 6.12.26 (1836.2.12)
A Meiji period businessman. His pen name was Shoin. He was the second son of the Confucian scholar Naozaemon Hidetaka 5th of the Satsuma (Kagoshima) domain, and his mother Yasu. His childhood name was Tokusuke or Saisuke. As a boy, he studied literature and martial arts at the domain's Seido Zoshikan. After his father's death in 1854, he served the domain as a county clerk, but in 1854, he was ordered by the domain to study at the Shogunate's Nagasaki Naval Training School, and thereafter lived mainly in Nagasaki until 1868, where he became acquainted with Katsu Kaishu, Enomoto Takeaki, Terashima Munenori, Motoki Shozo, Sano Tsunetami, Takasugi Shinsaku, and also developed a friendship with Thomas Glover, cultivating enlightened knowledge. In 1862, he traveled to Shanghai twice and purchased steamships and weapons for the Satsuma domain. When the Anglo-Satsuma War broke out in 1860, he negotiated with the British fleet together with Terashima Munenori (then Matsuki Koan), but was taken prisoner and abducted to Yokohama. After his release, he lived in exile in Bushu, Nagasaki, etc., but was allowed to return to his domain, and in 1865 he traveled to England as a leader of students studying abroad in the Satsuma domain, where he purchased spinning machinery and weapons, and also signed contracts to establish trading companies in Belgium and France and entrusted exhibits to the World Exposition. During his stay in Europe, he sent the lord of Satsuma a proposal of 18 articles on enriching the country and strengthening its military, and after returning to Japan in 1866, he was appointed to the Foreign Affairs Section of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he promoted the Satsuma domain's policy of encouraging industry and commerce, including planning foreign trade, the construction of the Kagoshima Spinning Mill, the construction of the Nagasaki Kosuge Ship Repair Dock, and the establishment of a Satsuma-Choshu joint venture trading company, and interacted with patriots from various domains. After the Meiji government was established, he became an advisor, successively serving as Foreign Affairs Officer, Foreign Official Judge, and Osaka Prefectural Judge. He was involved in diplomatic and trade affairs, mainly in Osaka, and the construction of the Mint, and also came into contact with the Osaka business community through the establishment of a trading and foreign exchange company. In 1869, he left his government position and established the Gold and Silver Assay Office, Koseikan (mining management), Choyokan (indigo manufacturing), Osaka Typesetting Company, and Osaka Copper Company. He also entered the business world, being involved in the establishment of the Hankai Railway, Osaka Shosen, and Kobe Pier Company. He also rallied the power of Osaka's old merchants, and took the lead in reviving the Dojima Rice Exchange, founding the Osaka Stock Exchange, establishing the Osaka Chamber of Commerce (current Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and setting up the Osaka Commercial Training Institute (the precursor to Osaka City University), becoming the first chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and becoming a leader in the Osaka business community. He was also known as an economic policy brain behind Okubo Toshimichi, having submitted the "Opinion Paper on Financial Relief," and played a key role in laying the groundwork for the Osaka Conference in 1875. He had deep ties with the political world, received large subsidies from the government, and in 1881 established the Kansai Trading Company, which caused the Hokkaido Colonization Office's sale of government property scandal, known as the political upheaval of 1881. He is known as a businessman who is politically motivated, but he made a great contribution to restructuring the Osaka business world, which was in a state of stagnation in the early Meiji period. <References> Godai Ryusaku, Godai Tomoatsu Biography; Miyamoto Mataji, Godai Tomoatsu Biography; Japan Business History Institute, Godai Tomoatsu Biographical Materials

(Miyamoto Mataro)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治18.9.25(1885)
生年：天保6.12.26(1836.2.12)
明治時代の実業家。号を松陰。薩摩(鹿児島)藩の儒者五代直左衛門秀尭,母やすの次男。幼名徳助,または才助。少年時代には藩の聖堂造士館で文武を学ぶ。安政1(1854)年父の死後,藩に出仕して郡方書役となるが,同4年藩命により幕府の長崎海軍伝習所に遊学,以後,明治1(1868)年まで主として長崎に居をかまえ,勝海舟,榎本武揚,寺島宗則,本木昌造,佐野常民,高杉晋作らと交遊し,トーマス・グラヴァーとも親交を重ね,開明的知識を養う。文久2(1862)年2度にわたって上海に渡り,薩摩藩のために汽船,武器を購入。文久3年,薩英戦争が起こると寺島宗則(当時松木弘安)と共に,英艦隊と交渉に当たるが,捕虜となり,横浜に拉致される。釈放後,武州,長崎などで亡命生活を送ったが,帰藩を許され,慶応1(1865)年薩摩藩留学生の引率者として英国に渡り,紡績機械,武器を購入し,またベルギー,フランスでは貿易商社設立契約や万国博への出品委託を行った。渡欧中,薩摩藩主に富国強兵に関する18カ条の建言書を送り,慶応2年帰国後は御用人席外国掛に任ぜられて,外国貿易,鹿児島紡績所の建設,長崎小菅修船場の建設,薩長合弁商社設立の計画を行うなど,薩摩藩の殖産興業政策を推進するとともに,諸藩の志士と交わる。明治政府成立後,参与となり,外国事務掛,外国官権判事,大阪府判事を歴任,大阪を中心として外交・貿易事務,造幣寮の建設にかかわるとともに,通商・為替会社設立などを契機に大阪経済界とも接触した。明治2年官を辞し,金銀分析所,弘成館(鉱山経営),朝陽館(製藍事業),大阪活版所,大阪製銅会社を設立。さらに阪堺鉄道,大阪商船,神戸桟橋会社の設立に関係するなど実業界に入った。また,旧来からの大阪商人の力を結集して,堂島米会所の再興,大阪株式取引所の創設,大阪商法会議所(現在の商工会議所)の設立,大阪商業講習所(大阪市立大学の前身)の設置にリーダーシップをとり,商法会議所の初代会頭となるなど大阪財界の指導者となった。「財政救治意見書」を建白するなど大久保利通の経済政策ブレーンとしても知られ,明治8年の大阪会議では根回し役を務めた。政界との関係深く,政府から多額の補助金を得,明治14年には関西貿易会社を設立して北海道開拓使官有物払い下げ事件,いわゆる明治14年の政変を引き起こすなど,政商のイメージが刻印されている実業家であるが,沈滞気味であった明治初期の大阪経済界をリストラクチャリングさせた功績は大きい。<参考文献>五代竜作『五代友厚伝』,宮本又次『五代友厚伝』,日本経営史研究所『五代友厚伝記資料』

(宮本又郎)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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