Fujita Group

It began as an organization established by Fujita Denzaburo in 1869 (Meiji 2) at Koraibashi-dori 2-chome, Osaka. He was a typical political businessman who made huge profits from buying and selling military boots, clothing, and rice during the Seinan War, and in 1877 he attempted a joint venture with his older brother Fujita Shikataro and Kuhara Shozaburo, renaming the company Fujita Denzaburo Trading Company and rising to prominence in the Kansai financial world. In 1879, the company's executives were arrested in the so-called Fujita-gumi counterfeit note scandal, but in January 1881 it was reorganized as the Fujita-gumi with capital of 60,000 yen. In August 1884, the company received the transfer of the Kosaka Mine in Akita Prefecture, and thereafter expanded its business by embarking on agriculture and forestry, as well as the reclamation and cultivation of Kojima Bay in Okayama Prefecture. Kosaka Mine was hit by a crisis when the price of silver plummeted after the implementation of the gold standard in 1897, and prices and labor costs rose, but it overcame this crisis by introducing the flash smelting method, and the land reclamation project also completed the construction of the first district, covering a total area of ​​370 chobu, by the time of the Russo-Japanese War. In December 1905 (Meiji 38), Fujita Gumi changed its management from a sister company centered around Densaburo to a parent-subsidiary company run by Densaburo and his son. In 1917 (Taisho 6), the mining division was separated into Fujita Mining, and a new institutional bank, Fujita Bank, was established, with Fujita Gumi becoming a holding company, but in 1937 (Showa 12) it merged with Fujita Mining to become Fujita Gumi Co., Ltd., and in December 1945 (Showa 20), it changed its name to Dowa Mining Co., Ltd.

[Kato Kozaburo]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1869年（明治2）藤田伝三郎が大阪高麗橋(こうらいばし)通二丁目に創設した組織に始まる。西南戦争で、軍靴、被服、糧米を売買して巨利を博した典型的な政商で、77年には実兄藤田鹿太郎(しかたろう)、久原庄三郎(くはらしょうざぶろう)らと共同経営を試み、藤田伝三郎商社と改称、関西財界に台頭した。79年にいわゆる藤田組贋札(がんさつ)事件で、幹部が検挙されたが、81年1月には資本金6万円の藤田組に改組した。84年8月には秋田県小坂鉱山の払下げを受け、以後、農林業や岡山県児島(こじま)湾の干拓・開墾にも着手して事業を拡大した。小坂鉱山は97年の金本位制実施による銀価暴落や物価・労賃の上昇により危機にみまわれたが、自溶製錬法の導入でこの危機を克服、干拓事業も、日露戦争時には第一区工事総面積370町歩の造成を完了した。1905年（明治38）12月、藤田組は伝三郎を中心とする兄弟会社から、伝三郎父子の親子会社に経営を転換させた。17年（大正6）には鉱業部門を藤田鉱業として独立させ、新たに機関銀行藤田銀行を設立して、藤田組は持株会社となったが、37年（昭和12）には藤田鉱業を合併して株式会社藤田組となり、45年（昭和20）12月に同和鉱業株式会社と改称した。

［加藤幸三郎］

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