Mitsui Zaibatsu

Japanese: 三井財閥 - みついざいばつ

One of the most representative conglomerates in modern Japan.

history

It began in 1673 (Enpo 1) when Mitsui Takatoshi, a native of Matsusaka, Ise, hung up the curtain of his kimono shop Echigoya Hachiroemon in Honcho 1-chome, Nihonbashi, Edo. He set up a purchasing store in Kyoto and also operated a money exchange, becoming a kimono dealer and money exchanger for the shogunate. He also expanded into Osaka. In 1710 (Hoei 7), he established a headquarters called "Omotokata" in Kyoto, and from this institution, the Mitsui clan lent jointly owned capital to each store and directed all the stores. Omotokata was an organization equivalent to a later general partnership company, and adopted an accounting system that incorporated the principles of double-entry bookkeeping. The business flourished, but began to stagnate from the mid-Edo period onwards. The kimono business in particular was in a slump. Repeated fires and bans on luxury exacerbated this. During the Meiji Restoration, they sided with the Imperial Court and, together with the Ono and Shimada groups, were appointed to the new government's financial department. As they cooperated greatly with the new government's financial and economic policies, they were given various privileges by the new government and rapidly accumulated capital.

[Shigeaki Yasuoka]

The formation of the zaibatsu

Many of the wealthy merchants of the Edo period fell into ruin, but a few quickly adapted to the great changes and became zaibatsu. These included Mitsui, Sumitomo, and Konoike. It was excellent managers who made this transformation a success. In the case of Mitsui, these were Minomura Rizaemon, Nakamigawa Hikojiro, Masuda Takashi, and Dan Takuma. While actively engaged in business activities, they also worked hard to improve internal structure and constitution, and achieved results. In the early Meiji period, they separated the struggling kimono business and established Mitsukoshi Kimono Store, and in 1876 (Meiji 9), they established Mitsui Bank and Mitsui Bussan, and in 1888, they received the Miike coal mine and created the three pillars of banking, products, and mining. When the bussan company was founded, it was not directly managed by Mitsui, but just before the Commercial Code came into effect (1893), it was converted to direct management along with the kimono shop. At the end of the Meiji period, between 1909 and 1911 (Meiji 42-44), the bank, bussan, mine, and warehouse were made into directly managed joint-stock companies, and the zaibatsu headquarters Mitsui General Partnership Company (capital 50 million yen) was established to own all of the shares of these companies, and the Mitsui Konzern structure was put in place. The Yasuda zaibatsu soon reorganized itself in line with Mitsui, and other zaibatsu also modeled their structures after Mitsui's structure.

[Shigeaki Yasuoka]

Subsequent developments

Mitsui, which started out with four direct-line companies, later developed into Japan's largest zaibatsu with many direct and collateral companies. However, it placed emphasis on commercial and financial sectors, and compared to Mitsubishi and Sumitomo, the weight of the heavy chemical industry sector was small. As industrialization progressed, this became a weakness of the Mitsui zaibatsu. In the Showa era, Mitsui was criticized by socialist and right-wing movements, and in 1932 (Showa 7), the chairman of Dan Mitsui Gomei was assassinated. Ikeda Seihin, who took over as head of the company, created the Mitsui Hoonkai and focused on social work, revamped the personnel of the top management, and forced the Mitsui family to resign from the front line. In 1940, Mitsui Gomei was merged with Mitsui Bussan, and two years later, 25% of the company's shares were made public. In 1944, Mitsui Honsha became an independent company again. In this way, the subsidiary companies adopted a structure in which they owned shares in the parent company, and the closed nature of the zaibatsu headquarters was reduced, and the headquarters disappeared when the zaibatsu were dissolved after the war. After that, many zaibatsu, including the Mitsui zaibatsu, formed corporate groups by repeatedly separating and merging with their affiliated companies.

[Shigeaki Yasuoka]

"Mitsui: Three Hundred Years of Economic and Political Life in Japan" by John G. Roberts, translated and supervised by Ando Yoshio and Mitsui Reiko (1976, Diamond Inc.)" ▽ "History of the Mitsui Zaibatsu: Taisho and Showa Periods" by Togai Yoshio (1978, Kyoikusha) ▽ "History of the Mitsui Zaibatsu: Early Modern and Meiji Periods" by Yasuoka Shigeaki (1979, Kyoikusha) ▽ "Study of the Mitsui Zaibatsu" by Matsumoto Hiroshi (1979, Yoshikawa Kobunkan) ▽ "Mitsui Business History" compiled and published by Mitsui Bunko, 3 volumes, 5 books (1980-2001)" ▽ "History of Japanese Zaibatsu Management: The Mitsui Zaibatsu" edited and written by Yasuoka Shigeaki (1982, Nihon Keizai Shimbun) ▽ "Historical Studies of Zaibatsu Management" by Yasuoka Shigeaki (1998, Iwanami Shoten) "Mitsui & Co.'s Machinery Trading in the Prewar Period" by Shoichi Asashima (2001, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha)" ▽ "Mitsui & Co.'s Finances in the Prewar Period" by Shoichi Asashima (2005, Nihon Keizai Hyoronsha)" ▽ "Mitsui & Co.'s Personnel Policy History 1876-1931" by Yukio Wakabayashi (2007, Minerva Shobo)" ▽ "Modern Japan and Mitsui & Co." by Minoru Kiyama (2009, Minerva Shobo)" ▽ "Mitsui" by Akira Kubota (Chuko Shinsho)" ▽ "Japan's 15 Largest Zaibatsu: Unravelling the Roots of Modern Companies" by Hiroyuki Kikuchi (Heibonsha Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

近代日本の代表的財閥の一つ。

歴史

1673年（延宝1）伊勢(いせ)松坂出身の三井高利(たかとし)が江戸日本橋本町一丁目において呉服店越後屋八郎右衛門(えちごやはちろうえもん)ののれんを掲げたときに始まる。京都に仕入店(しいれだな)を設け、両替店を兼営し、幕府御用の呉服師・両替商となった。大坂にも進出した。1710年（宝永7）「大元方(おおもとかた)」という本部を京都に設置し、この機関を本拠として三井同族が共同所有の資本を営業各店に貸し付け、かつ全店を指揮した。大元方は後の合名会社に相当する組織であり、複式簿記の原理を取り入れた会計制度を採用していた。その事業は隆盛を極めたが、江戸中期以降停滞ぎみとなった。とくに呉服業は不振であった。たび重なる火災や奢侈(しゃし)禁止令がそれに拍車をかけた。維新期には朝廷方に加担し、小野組・島田組とともに新政府の財用方に登用され、大いにその財政・経済政策に協力したので、新政府からいろいろの特典を与えられ、急速に資本を蓄積した。

［安岡重明］

財閥の形成

江戸期の豪商の多くは没落したが、若干の豪商は大変化に即応して財閥となった。三井、住友、鴻池(こうのいけ)などである。この転換を成功させたのは、優れた経営者たちであった。三井の場合は、三野村利左衛門(みのむらりざえもん)、中上川(なかみがわ)彦次郎、益田孝(ますだたかし)、団琢磨(だんたくま)などであった。彼らは事業活動を活発に行うかたわら、内部整備・体質改善に努力し、成果をあげた。明治初年、不振の呉服業を分離して三越(みつこし)呉服店とし、1876年（明治9）三井銀行と三井物産を設立し、1888年三池炭鉱の払下げを受け、銀行・物産・鉱山の三本柱をつくった。物産会社は設立時には三井直営ではなかったが、商法施行（1893）の直前に、呉服店とともに直営に切り換えられた。明治末の1909～1911年（明治42～44）には、銀行・物産・鉱山・倉庫を直営事業の株式会社とし、それら諸会社の全株式を所有する財閥本社三井合名会社（資本金5000万円）が設立され、三井コンツェルンの組織が整備された。安田財閥もまもなく三井に倣った改組を行ったし、他の財閥も三井の形態を参考にして財閥コンツェルンを組織した。

［安岡重明］

その後の発展

当初四つの企業を直系として出発した三井は、その後、直系・傍系の諸企業を多数擁して、日本最大の財閥に発展したが、商業・金融部門に重点を置き、三菱(みつびし)、住友に比べて重化学工業部門の比重は小さかった。工業化の進展に伴って、このことが三井財閥の弱点となった。昭和に入って、三井は社会主義的な運動や右翼的な運動から非難の対象とされ、1932年（昭和7）には団三井合名理事長が暗殺された。かわって責任者となった池田成彬(せいひん)は、三井報恩会をつくって社会事業に力を入れ、首脳の人事を刷新し、三井一族を第一線から退陣させた。1940年三井合名はいったん三井物産に合併され、2年後、物産の株式の25％が縁故公開された。1944年には三井本社はふたたび独立会社となった。こうして子会社が本社株を所有する形態が採用され、財閥本社の閉鎖性は後退し、戦後の財閥解体によって本社は消滅した。その後三井財閥をはじめとする多くの財閥は、傘下の諸企業との分離と合併を繰り返しながら企業グループを形成した。

［安岡重明］

『ジョン・G・ロバーツ著、安藤良雄・三井礼子監訳『三井――日本における経済と政治の三百年』（1976・ダイヤモンド社）』▽『栂井義雄著『三井財閥史　大正・昭和編』（1978・教育社）』▽『安岡重明著『三井財閥史　近世・明治編』（1979・教育社）』▽『松元宏著『三井財閥の研究』（1979・吉川弘文館）』▽『三井文庫編・刊『三井事業史』本篇全3巻5冊（1980～2001）』▽『安岡重明編著『日本財閥経営史　三井財閥』（1982・日本経済新聞社）』▽『安岡重明著『財閥経営の歴史的研究』（1998・岩波書店）』▽『麻島昭一著『戦前期三井物産の機械取引』（2001・日本経済評論社）』▽『麻島昭一著『戦前期三井物産の財務』（2005・日本経済評論社）』▽『若林幸男著『三井物産人事政策史1876～1931年』（2007・ミネルヴァ書房）』▽『木山実著『近代日本と三井物産』（2009・ミネルヴァ書房）』▽『久保田晃著『三井』（中公新書）』▽『菊地浩之著『日本の15大財閥――現代企業のルーツをひもとく』（平凡社新書）』