Iwasaki Yataro

Japanese: 岩崎弥太郎 - いわさき・やたろう

Year of death: February 7, 1885
Year of birth: Tempo 5.12.11 (1835.1.9)
A Meiji-era businessman. Founder of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu. He was the eldest son of Iwasaki Yajiro, a ronin from Inokuchi Village, Aki County, Tosa Province (Kochi Prefecture), and his younger brother was Yanosuke. His mother was Miwa. He studied history and Chinese poetry at the Koyusha school run by his uncle Okamoto Yasuura, then at the private school run by Asaka Gonsai, a Confucian scholar in Edo, and at the Shorin School run by Yoshida Toyo outside Kochi Castle, where he learned the theory of governing the country and the world. In 1859 (Ansei 6), he went on a business trip to Nagasaki, and in 1867 (Keio 3), he was dispatched to the Nagasaki Trading Company of Kaiseikan, a trading company run by the domain, where he negotiated with European trading companies regarding the purchase of ships and weapons and the export of Tosa products, honing his skills as a businessman. After the Meiji Restoration, in 1870, Kaiseikan became a private trading company called Tsukumo Shokai, which engaged in shipping and commerce using three clan ships. After becoming Mikawa Shokai, it changed its name to Mitsubishi Shokai in March 1873, at which point Yataro established control over management and ownership. In 1874, the head office was moved to Tokyo, and in 1875, it changed its name to Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Company. During the successive civil wars that occurred in western Japan from the Saga Rebellion (1874) to the Seinan War (1877), as well as the Taiwan Expedition (1874) and the Ganghwa Island Incident (1875), Mitsubishi Company ships transported soldiers and military supplies to the affected areas at the request of the new government, contributing to the victory of the government forces. In return, Mitsubishi Company received government ships for sale or entrustment, and by 1881, it owned 61 steamships (73% of the total number of ships in Japan) and became the king of Japanese shipping. In the process, he defeated domestic and foreign rivals such as the Japan Post Steamship Company, the PO Steamship Company (UK), and the Pacific Mail Shipping Company (USA), and also deepened ties with powerful government figures such as Okubo Toshimichi and Okuma Shigenobu, rising to prominence as a political businessman. However, as Mitsubishi's monopoly in the shipping industry grew, public opinion grew against it, and Mitsui took the lead in founding the Tokyo Wind Sailing Ship Company in 1881 to pursue Mitsubishi. With public opinion calling for the "elimination of the Umibozu," Kyodo Transportation Company was founded in 1882, and Mitsubishi and the company continued their fierce battle by repeatedly lowering prices. When Saigo Tsugumichi, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, criticized Mitsubishi, saying, "Mitsubishi's violent wealth is on par with that of a traitor to the country," Yataro retorted, "You call me a traitor to the country? If that is really the government's policy, I will also gather all the steamships I own in the Enshu Nada Sea and burn them, and donate all my remaining assets to the Liberal Party. If this happens, the Satsuma-Choshu government will be overthrown in an instant." However, as fears of both companies collapsing grew, with the mediation of political and business leaders, the two companies merged in 1818 to form Nippon Yusen Kaisha (Nippon Yusen Kaisha), which became a major subsidiary company of Mitsubishi. Yataro also worked on the Yoshioka Copper Mine (1873), Mitsubishi Steel Works (1875), Mitsubishi Exchange Store (1880), Senkawa Waterway (same company), and Takashima Coal Mine (1881), and he also invested in Tokyo Marine Insurance (1878), Trading Company (1880), Meiji Life Insurance (1881), and Japan Railway (same company), laying the foundations of the zaibatsu. In addition to his abilities as a political businessman, he was a brilliant manager who possessed both a bold dictatorial style and a sensitive organizational style. He had five children with his wife, Kisei, and his eldest son, Hisaya, became the third head of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu after Yanosuke. <References> Irimoto Yoshinobu, "Iwasaki Yataro," edited by the Iwasaki Yataro and Yanosuke Biography Editorial Committee, "The Life of Iwasaki Yataro," Yasuo Mishima, "The History of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu: Meiji Period"

(Yasuo Mishima)

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

Japanese:

没年：明治18.2.7(1885)
生年：天保5.12.11(1835.1.9)
明治期の実業家。三菱財閥の創設者。土佐国(高知県)安芸郡井ノ口村の地下浪人の岩崎弥次郎の長男で,弟は弥之助。母は美和。伯父の岡本寧浦の塾である紅友社で歴史と漢詩を学び,次いで江戸の儒官である安積艮斎の私塾,さらに高知城外の吉田東洋の少林塾で治国経世の理論を学んだ。安政6(1859)年に長崎に出張し,さらに慶応3(1867)年に藩営商社開成館の長崎商会に派遣され,艦船,武器の買い付けと土佐物産の輸出について欧州の各商社とわたりあい,事業家としての腕を磨いた。維新後の明治3(1870)年に開成館は九十九商会という私商社となり,3隻の藩船を利用して海運と通商を行い,三川商会を経て6年3月に三菱商会と改称したが,この時点で弥太郎の経営権と所有権が確立した。7年に本店を東京に移し,8年に郵便汽船三菱会社と改称した。佐賀の乱(1874)から西南戦争(1877)まで,西日本で相次いで起こった内乱や,征台の役(1874),江華島事件(1875)において,新政府の要請に応じて三菱会社の船で兵員と軍需品を現地に輸送し,政府軍の勝利に貢献した。その見返りとして三菱会社は政府の船の払い下げや委託を受け,10年には汽船61隻(国内隻数の73%)を所有して日本海運界の王座についた。この過程で日本国郵便蒸汽船会社,P.O.汽船会社(英国),太平洋郵船会社(米国)などの内外のライバルを撃破し,また大久保利通や大隈重信らの政府実力者と関係を深め,政商としてのし上がっていった。しかし三菱の海運業の独占が高まると,これを非難する世論が高まり,三井が中心になって14年に東京風帆船会社を設立して三菱を追撃した。「海坊主退治」の世論のもとにさらに16年には共同運輸会社が創設され,三菱と同社は値下げを繰り返して死闘を続けた。西郷従道農商務卿が「三菱の暴富は国賊同様なり」と非難すると,弥太郎は「我を国賊と呼ぶか,政府が果してその方針ならば,我も亦所有の汽船を残らず遠州灘に集めて焼き払い,残りの財産は全部自由党に寄附せん。かくなれば薩長政府も忽ち顛覆するであろう」とやり返したという。しかし共倒れの恐れが強まったので,政財界首脳部の斡旋により両社は合併して18年に日本郵船会社が成立し,三菱の有力傍系会社になった。弥太郎が手がけた事業は他に吉岡銅山(1873),三菱製鉄所(1875),三菱為替店(1880),千川水道(同),高島炭坑(1881)があり,また東京海上保険(1878),貿易商会(1880),明治生命(1881),日本鉄道(同)などへ出資し,財閥の基礎を築いた。政商としての実力のほかに豪気なワンマン型,繊細な組織型の両面を併せ持つ名経営者であった。妻喜勢との間に5子があり,長男久弥は弥之助のあと三菱財閥3代目当主となった。<参考文献>入交好脩『岩崎弥太郎』,岩崎弥太郎・弥之助伝記編纂会編『岩崎弥太郎伝』,三島康雄『三菱財閥史・明治編』

(三島康雄)

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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