Gohei Zeniya

Japanese: 銭屋五兵衛 - ぜにや・ごへえ

Year of death: November 21, 1852 (December 31, 1852)
Year of birth: 25th November 1774 (7th January 1774)
A wealthy merchant and shipping operator in the Edo period. Born in Miyakoshiura, Kaga Province (Kanazawa City), his childhood names were Mosuke and Kamesu. His ancestors ran a money exchange business, so he was called Zeniya, and his father started a shipping business, but it went out of business due to the Tenmei economic downturn, and he started a pawnbrokerage and soy sauce brewery. Gohei inherited the family business in 1789 (Kansei 1) and expanded his business to include secondhand goods and heavy goods trading, and in 1811 (Bunka 8) he set out to sea with a three-seater, 120 koku pawned ship. Riding the wave of the heyday of the Kitamae ships, which were based on Matsumae trade, centering on herring manure, he came to own branches in 34 locations across the country and a total of over 200 ships, large and small. In 1836 (Tenpo 7), he retired, leaving the business to his eldest son Kitaro. At that time, he said that rice trading was strictly prohibited and that ship business was unreliable, but in 1831, he allied with Okamura Sakae, the regent of the Kaga (Kanazawa) domain, and was granted permission to ship rice to Osaka, making huge profits from the rice market and embarking on the reclamation of the Kahoku lagoon. However, after Sakae's death, he was tricked by his political rivals, the Kurohaori Party, who replaced him, and was imprisoned, and after undergoing severe interrogation, he died in prison at the advanced age of 79. Since the Kaga domain's shipping industry was dependent on the Kansai region, from around the Bunka period, the development of local ships and the construction of large ships were encouraged. This policy of breaking away from dependence on the Kansai region supported Zengo's growth, and in the midst of this, he was able to ship rice to the Kansai region. The Kurohaori Party, who replaced him, tried to allege with new merchants who had risen to power in the three provinces of Kaga, Etchu, and Noto through trade with Hokkaido. As long as this was the case, a privileged merchant like Zengo was an obstacle and was buried. <References> "Nennen-tame" edited by Kisaburo Wakabayashi, "Study of Zeniya Gobei" by Seiki Kaburagi, "New Edition of Zeniya Gobei" by Kisaburo Wakabayashi, "Thoughts on Zeniya Gobei" by Tamotsu Takase ("Japanese History" Vol. 252)

(Takase Tamotsu)

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

Japanese:

没年：嘉永5.11.21(1852.12.31)
生年：安永2.11.25(1774.1.7)
江戸時代の豪商,海運業者。加賀国宮腰浦(金沢市)に生まれ,幼名茂助,亀巣と号した。祖先が両替商を営んだので銭屋と称し,父の代に海運業を始めたが天明の不況で廃業し質屋と醤油醸造業を始めた。五兵衛は寛政1(1789)年に家督相続し古手・太物商にも手を広げ,文化8(1811)年に質流れの3人乗り120石積の船をもって海上進出。鰊肥を中心とする松前交易による北前船全盛時代の波に乗り,全国34カ所に支店,大小船合わせて二百数十艘を持つに至った。天保7(1836)年に長男喜太郎に商売をまかせ隠居。そのとき米商厳禁,船商売はあてにならずと述べたが,天保11年加賀(金沢)藩執政奥村栄実と結んだことで御手船裁許となり大坂廻米,米相場で莫大の利益をあげ,河北潟の干拓に乗り出した。しかし栄実の死後,代わって登場したその政敵の黒羽織党に謀られて入牢しきびしい詮議をうけながら79歳の高齢で牢死した。加賀藩海運には上方依存があったので,文化ごろより地船育成,大船建造が奨められた。この上方依存の脱却政策が銭五の成長を支え,その中で彼による上方廻米が実現した。代わった黒羽織党は北海道交易により加越能3州に抬頭した新規海商と結ぼうとした。その限り銭五のような一個の特権海商は邪魔物となり葬られることになった。<参考文献>若林喜三郎編『年々留』,鏑木勢岐『銭屋五兵衛の研究』,若林喜三郎『新版銭屋五兵衛』,高瀬保「銭屋五兵衛考」(『日本歴史』通巻252号)

(高瀬保)

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