New business conglomerate

In contrast to the established (old) zaibatsu such as Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo that established their foundations during the Meiji and Taisho periods, these were business groups that arose around the time of the Manchurian Incident and during the Second Sino-Japanese War. They were also called new conglomerates. The five most representative conglomerates are as follows:

(1) Nissan Conzern The Nissan Conzern began when Aikawa Yoshisuke, the brother-in-law of Kuhara Fusanosuke, took on the task of reconstructing the business of Kuhara Fusanosuke, which was on the brink of bankruptcy at the end of the Taisho era, and reorganized Kuhara Mining, the core company of the Kuhara family, into the public holding company Nippon Sangyo in 1928 (Showa 3). It absorbed or established new companies, mainly those under the control of the Kuhara and Aikawa families, and by around 1937 had formed a major conglomerate third only to the Mitsui and Mitsubishi zaibatsu. Furthermore, at the end of the same year, it relocated Nippon Industries to the "Puerto Rico" and engaged in the industrial development of Manchuria.

(2) Nichitsu Conglomerate It began when Noguchi Jun established Nippon Nitrogen Fertilizer in 1908 (Meiji 41). After succeeding in producing the first ammonium sulfate and synthetic ammonia in Japan, the company expanded into Korea in search of abundant and cheap electricity, and formed a conglomerate centered on the electrochemical industry that spanned both Japan and Korea.

(3) Mori Conzern Mori Nobuteru, with the support of Suzuki Saburosuke, established two companies, Nippon Iodine in 1926 (Taisho 15) and Showa Fertilizer in 1928 (Showa 3). With the former, he succeeded in domestically producing aluminum, and with the latter, in producing synthetic ammonia using domestic technology. Using these as a foothold, he formed a conzern centered on the electrochemical and metallurgical industries.

(4) Nisso Conglomerate The Nisso Conglomerate was founded in 1920 by Nakano Tomonori in order to commercialize his patent, the "chlor-alkali electrolysis method." From the soda industry as a base, the company expanded its business network to include mining, steel, rayon, and other industries, forming a conglomerate.

(5) RIKEN Conzern This consortium was formed by Masatoshi Okochi, the third director of the RIKEN (established in 1917), with the objective of securing funding for the institute and commercializing its research results.

While the established zaibatsu were conglomerates that broadly managed finance, trading, mining and manufacturing, these new zaibatsu were conglomerates based on heavy chemical and electric power industries, and were enthusiastic about commercializing new technologies, expanding into colonies such as Korea and Manchuria, and advocating new management philosophies.Amid the rise of heavy chemical industry after the Manchurian Incident, they proactively expanded their business networks and grew into powerful management entities.However, the new zaibatsu had weak financial bases, and as the wartime controlled economy progressed, competition with the established zaibatsu intensified.Furthermore, their expansion into the colonies was unsuccessful due to the worsening war situation, and they gradually weakened, eventually collapsing when the zaibatsu were dissolved after the war.

[Masaru Udagawa]

"Emerging Zaibatsu" by Masaru Udagawa (1984, Nihon Keizai Shimbun)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治・大正期に基盤を確立した三井、三菱(みつびし)、住友などの既成（旧）財閥に対して、満州事変前後から日中戦争期にかけて勃興(ぼっこう)した企業集団をいう。新興コンツェルンともよばれた。その代表的コンツェルンは次の五つである。

(1)日産コンツェルン　大正末年破綻(はたん)に瀕(ひん)した久原(くはら)房之助の事業再建を引き受けた義兄鮎川義介(あいかわよしすけ)が、1928年（昭和3）久原家の中核企業である久原鉱業を公開持株会社日本産業に改組したのが起点。その傘下に久原、鮎川親族の支配下にある諸企業を中心とする既存企業を吸収あるいは新設し、1937年ごろまでに三井、三菱両財閥に次ぐ一大コンツェルンを形成した。さらに同年末には日本産業を「満州国」に移転させ、満州の産業開発にあたった。

(2)日窒(にっちつ)コンツェルン　野口遵(したがう)が1908年（明治41）日本窒素肥料を設立したことに始まる。日本最初の硫安、合成アンモニア生産に成功したのち、豊富・低廉な電力を求めて朝鮮に進出し、日本、朝鮮にまたがる電気化学工業中心のコンツェルンを形成した。

(3)森コンツェルン　森矗昶(のぶてる)が鈴木三郎助の支援を得て、1926年（大正15）日本沃度(ようど)、1928年（昭和3）昭和肥料の2社を設立。前者でアルミニウムの国産化、後者で国産技術による合成アンモニアの生産に成功し、それらを足場に電気化学、冶金(やきん)工業中心のコンツェルンを形成した。

(4)日曹(にっそう)コンツェルン　中野友礼(とものり)が自分の特許「食塩電解法」の企業化のため1920年（大正9）日本曹達(ソーダ)を設立したことに始まり、ソーダ工業を起点に鉱業、鉄鋼、人絹などに事業網を拡大してコンツェルンを形成した。

(5)理研コンツェルン　理化学研究所（1917設立）の3代目所長大河内正敏(おおこうちまさとし)によって、同研究所の資金確保とその研究成果を工業化する目的の下に形成された。

　既成財閥が金融、商事、鉱工業などを手広く経営するコンツェルンであったのに対し、これら新興財閥は重化学工業、電力事業に基盤を置くコンツェルンであり、新技術の企業化や朝鮮、満州などの植民地への進出、あるいは新しい経営理念の提唱などに熱心で、満州事変以後の重化学工業勃興(ぼっこう)のなかで積極的に事業網を拡大し、有力な経営体に成長した。しかし、新興財閥は資金的基盤が脆弱(ぜいじゃく)で、戦時統制経済の進展に伴って既成財閥との競争も激化し、さらに植民地への進出も、戦局の悪化によって成果をあげることができず、しだいに弱体化していき、戦後の財閥解体で崩壊した。

［宇田川勝］

『宇田川勝著『新興財閥』（1984・日本経済新聞社）』

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