Junnosuke Inoue

Japanese: 井上準之助 - いのうえ・じゅんのすけ

Year of death: February 9, 1932
Year of birth: 25/05/1869 (1869.05.06)
A banker, financier, and politician from the Meiji to Showa periods. Born in Otsuru Village, Hita County, Oita Prefecture (Hita City), he was adopted by his uncle, Inoue Kan'ichi. He attended the county's Kyoei Middle School and Seiritsu Gakusha before entering the Second High School, and then graduated from the law department of Tokyo Imperial University in 1896 (Meiji 29), immediately joining the Bank of Japan. He served as an apprentice at the Osaka branch, and then conducted business research at Perth Bank in London. He returned to Japan in 1909, and on the recommendation of Vice-President Takahashi Korekiyo, he was promoted to Osaka branch manager in 1915 and sales director in 1916. From 1916, he worked for two years as a supervisor of the New York agency, interacting with American business leaders, and in 1918 he became vice president of the Yokohama Specie Bank, and in 1913 he became president. During this time, the bank was involved in loans to the Hanyeping Company, and joined the China-Shikoku Loan Foundation, which was jointly established by the UK, the US, Germany, and France, and was active in the international financial world, underwriting public bonds from China, Russia, France, and other countries during World War I. Inoue was appointed as the successor to the Bank of Japan Governor Mishima Yataro upon his death in 1925. Finance Minister Takahashi Korekiyo chose Inoue because he could not promote Mizumachi Kesaroku, the Bank's Deputy Governor. In the autumn of that year, the postwar boom occurred, and Inoue warned against it, raising interest rates twice, but after the 1920 financial panic, he rescued the financial world through the Industrial Bank of Japan. On September 2, 1919, he became the Minister of Finance in the second Yamamoto Cabinet, and as a measure to deal with the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, he first implemented a one-month moratorium, established the Earthquake Bill System, and worked hard to rescue affected companies. Even after resigning as Minister of Finance, he continued to play a leading role in the financial world. Inoue was reappointed as the Governor of the Bank of Japan for one year after the 1927 financial panic, and from 1921, as the Minister of Finance in the Minseito Cabinet, he implemented the gold embargo policy. Domestic austerity measures and the Great Depression caused a severe recession, but Inoue steadfastly did not change his austerity policies and worked to maintain the gold standard. With the formation of the Seiyukai cabinet in December 1893, the gold standard was abandoned, and in February of the following year, Inoue became a victim of the Blood Brotherhood Incident.

(Takahide Nakamura)

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

Japanese:

没年：昭和7.2.9(1932)
生年：明治2.3.25(1869.5.6)
明治から昭和期にかけての銀行家,財政家,政治家。大分県日田郡大鶴村(日田市)に生まれ,叔父井上簡一の養子となる。郡立教英中学校,成立学舎を経て二高に入り,東京帝大法科を明治29(1896)年卒業し,直ちに日本銀行に入る。大阪支店において実務見習のうえ,ロンドンのパース・バンクで業務研究,同32年帰国,副総裁高橋是清の推薦で38年大阪支店長,39年営業局長に抜擢された。41年から2年間ニューヨーク代理店監督役としてアメリカ財界人と交わり,44年横浜正金銀行副頭取,大正2(1913)年頭取となる。この間,正金銀行は漢冶萍公司借款を手がけ,英米独仏の対中国四国借款財団に加入し,第1次世界大戦に際しては,中国,ロシア,フランスなどの公債を引き受けるなど国際金融界で活躍した。同8年,三島弥太郎日銀総裁死去に当たり,その後任に任命された。高橋是清蔵相は日銀の水町袈裟六副総裁の昇任を不可として井上を選んだのである。この年の秋大戦後の熱狂的ブームが発生し,井上はこれに警告し,2度金利を引き上げたが,大正9(1920)年の恐慌が発生したのちは日本興業銀行を通じて財界を救済した。12年9月2日,第2次山本内閣の蔵相となり,関東大震災の善後措置として,まず1カ月のモラトリアムを実施し,震災手形制度を定めて被災企業救済に尽力し,蔵相辞任後も財界の指導者の役割を果たした。井上は昭和2(1927)年金融恐慌後1年間日本銀行総裁に再任され,また同4年から民政党内閣の蔵相として金解禁政策を実施した。国内での緊縮政策と世界恐慌のため激烈な不況を生じたが,井上はあくまで緊縮政策を変更せず,金本位制の維持に努めた。6年12月政友会内閣成立とともに金本位制は放棄され,翌7年2月,井上は血盟団事件の犠牲となった。

(中村隆英)

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

<<: Tetsujiro Inoue

>>: Takeshi Inoue - Inoue Kowashi