The Fifteenth Bank

This bank is the successor to the Fifteenth National Bank, which opened in Tokyo in May 1877 (Meiji 10). The Fifteenth National Bank was established with public bonds invested by members of the aristocracy, and its capital of 17.82 million yen at the time was the largest of any bank at the time. Most of the banknotes issued were loaned to cover the costs of the Satsuma Rebellion, and the bank also played a major role in the management of the Japanese Railway Company (a private railway between Ueno and Aomori). In May 1897, the bank was converted into a commercial bank under the name of the Fifteenth Bank, Ltd., and Sonoda Kokichi, who was not of aristocratic descent, was appointed president. After this, the bank continued to function as a commercial bank, but was characterized by the large number of deposits it received from the Imperial Household Ministry, the aristocracy, and various government agencies, and it was still known by the nickname of the Peerage Bank. In the 1920s, the bank merged with six other banks, including Naniwa, Teiyu, and Kobe Kawasaki, and its branch network expanded nationwide, but was hit hard by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, and announced a temporary closure during the financial panic of 1927, eventually going bankrupt. It later reopened, but business was poor, and in August 1944, it was merged into Teikoku Bank, a merger between Daiichi Bank and Mitsui Bank, as part of financial control policies during World War II. In 1948, Daiichi Bank was separated from Teikoku Bank. The Jugo Bank, along with the former Mitsui Bank, remained part of Teikoku Bank. Teikoku Bank was renamed Mitsui Bank (now Sumitomo Mitsui Bank) in 1954.

[Kazuyoshi Okada]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1877年（明治10）5月に東京で開業した第十五国立銀行の後身。第十五国立銀行は、華族が金録公債を出資して設立されたもので、その設立時の資本金1782万円は当時の銀行としては最大の規模であった。発行銀行券の大半は西南戦争の戦費に貸し付けられたほか、日本鉄道会社（上野―青森間の私鉄）の経営にも大きな役割を果たした。1897年5月、株式会社十五銀行として普通銀行に転換、華族出身でない園田孝吉を頭取に迎えた。これ以後、普通銀行として活躍するが、宮内省をはじめ華族、諸官庁の預金が多かったことが特徴で、依然として華族銀行の別名でよばれた。1920年代に入ると、浪速(なにわ)、丁酉(ていゆう)、神戸川崎など6銀行を合併、支店網も全国的な広がりをみせたが、23年（大正12）の関東大震災の打撃がきわめて大きく、27年（昭和2）の金融恐慌時に休業を発表、破綻(はたん)するに至った。その後再開業するが、営業は振るわず、第二次世界大戦下の金融統制政策により、第一銀行と三井(みつい)銀行が合同した帝国銀行に1944年8月合併された。1948年（昭和23）に至り、第一銀行は帝国銀行から分離。十五銀行は旧三井銀行とともに帝国銀行にとどまった。帝国銀行は、1954年に三井銀行（現三井住友銀行）と改称した。

［岡田和喜］

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