Zenjiro Yasuda

Japanese: 安田善次郎 - やすだ・ぜんじろう

Year of death: September 28, 1921
Year of birth: Tenpo 9.10.9 (1838.11.25)
A businessman from the Meiji and Taisho periods. Founder of the Yasuda zaibatsu, with Yasuda Bank (Fuji Bank) at its core. Born in Toyama, Etchu Province. His childhood name was Iwajiro. His father, Zenetsu, had achieved the status of the lowest-ranking samurai in the Toyama domain during the late Edo period, but lived in poverty and was in reality half farmer, half merchant. Zenjiro was clever and had great business acumen, but as it was difficult to succeed in his hometown, he aspired to make a name for himself in Edo, and from his childhood he repeatedly tried to run away from home. At the age of 20, he persuaded his parents to let him leave and go to Edo, where he peddled within the city, and later worked as a clerk at a money exchange shop in Kofunecho, Nihonbashi, where he gained experience in money exchange and finance. In March 1864, he opened Yasudaya, a small dried bonito flakes business and coin exchange shop, in a back alley of Ningyocho, Nihonbashi, and became independent. He continued to work frugally and steadily, moving to Kofunecho, the financial center of the time (where the Fuji Bank Kofunecho branch is currently located), in April 1866 (Keio 2). While many of his competitors were forced to close or suspend business due to the worsening security situation, he continued to operate his business, and by 1869 (Meiji 2), he had become an established money exchange and financial business. After the Meiji Restoration, he changed his name to Yasuda Shoten and actively handled the inconvertible paper money (Dajokan bills) issued by the new government, reaping a profit of nearly 15,000 ryo. Believing in the future of the Meiji government, he bought up the government bonds that were issued one after another as their market prices fell, and he grew into one of the leading emerging financial businesses of the time. In August 1876, he participated in the establishment of the Third National Bank, and then in January 1880, he reorganized Yasuda Shoten into Yasuda Bank. In 1881, he became a director of the newly established Bank of Japan, and with the Bank of Japan as his backing, he developed the management of both banks. In particular, he took over the management of struggling banks all over the country, through the Third National Bank, and developed a nationwide network of affiliated banks. The current Fuji Bank branch network is based on those of Yasuda Bank and the Third Bank. He also had a great interest in insurance, and in 1926, he established Teikoku Marine Insurance and took over the management of Tokyo Fire Insurance, Japan's first fire insurance company, which later became Yasuda Fire Insurance. The following year, he reorganized the Mutual Aid 500-person company, which he had started as a private association with some acquaintances, into Mutual Aid Life Insurance (later Yasuda Life Insurance), and became a pioneer in the insurance industry. He became the most successful person in his generation in the financial industry, but he had little awareness of training managers, and he was not successful in other businesses such as spinning and nail manufacturing. From the end of the Meiji period to the Taisho period, he provided loans to modern businesses such as cement, reclamation and port construction, and shipping under Asano Soichiro, and he sympathized with and tried to support the grand vision of Tokyo City's Development and Municipal Affairs Research Council under Tokyo Mayor Goto Shinpei. However, perhaps because he placed too much importance on the Buddhist teaching of "secret virtue," he could not escape the public's reputation as a selfish businessman with little sense of national or public service. As a result, rumors spread that he had made profits by selling himself during the recession that followed World War I, and on September 28, 1921, at the age of 84, he was stabbed to death by nationalist Asahi Heigo (1890-1921) at his villa in Oiso, Kanagawa Prefecture (Asahi also committed suicide on the spot). He promised to donate the Yasuda Auditorium of the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo Municipal Hall during his lifetime, and this was fulfilled posthumously. He was fond of the tea ceremony and calligraphy, and called himself a "frugal monk." <References> "Yasuda Zaibatsu" edited by Yui Tsunehiko, "The Life of Yasuda Zenjiro" by Yano Fumio

(Yui Tsunehiko)

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

Japanese:

没年：大正10.9.28(1921)
生年：天保9.10.9(1838.11.25)
明治大正期の実業家。安田銀行(富士銀行)を中核とする安田財閥の創設者。越中国富山生まれ。幼名は岩次郎。父の善悦は幕末に富山藩の最下級の武士の身分を得たものの,生活は貧困で現実には半農半商であった。善次郎は利発で商才に富み,地元での成功が困難なことから江戸での立身を志し,少年期から再三出奔を試みている。20歳のとき両親を説得して江戸に出て市内を行商したのち日本橋小舟町の両替店に手代奉公し,両替と金融の経験を積んだ。元治1(1864)年3月,零細な鰹節小商兼銭両替店の安田屋を日本橋人形町の裏通りに開業して独立した。営々と勤倹力行に励み,慶応2(1866)年4月,当時の金融の中心地小舟町(現在の富士銀行小舟町支店所在地)に移ってからは,治安の悪化から同業者の休業や閉店が相次ぐなかで積極的に営業し,明治2(1869)年にはひとかどの両替・金融業者となった。維新後は安田商店と改称し,新政府が発行した不換紙幣(太政官札)をすすんで取り扱い,1万5000両近い利益を手にした。明治政府の将来を信じ,次々に発行された公債の市価が下落するたびに買い向かって成功し,当時屈指の新興の金融業者に成長した。 9年8月第三国立銀行の設立に参画,次いで13年1月に安田商店を安田銀行に改組し,15年には新設の日本銀行の理事に就任して,日本銀行を背景に両銀行の経営を発展させた。特に第三国立銀行で,行き詰まった各地の銀行の経営を引き受け,全国的な系列銀行網を持つようになった。現在の富士銀行の支店網は,安田銀行と第三銀行のそれを基盤としたものである。保険にも大きな関心を持ち,26年に帝国海上保険を設立するとともに日本最初の火災保険会社の東京火災保険の経営を引き受けたが,これら両社がのちに安田火災保険となる。翌年には私的な組合として知人たちと始めた共済五百名社を共済生命保険(のち安田生命保険)に改組し,保険業でも最大の先駆者となった。一代で金融業における最大の成功者となったが,経営者の養成の認識が乏しく,また紡績,製釘など金融以外の事業は成功しなかった。明治末年から大正時代には浅野総一郎のセメント,埋立築港,海運などの近代事業に融資し,東京市長後藤新平の東京市の開発・市政調査会の大構想に共鳴し,助力しようとした。しかし,仏教の「陰徳」の教えをあまりに重んじたせいもあって,国家・公共の意識の乏しい利己的な実業家との世評をまぬがれることができなかった。このため第1次大戦後の不況に際し,ひとり売りにまわって利益を得たとの噂が広まり,大正10(1921)年9月28日,84歳のとき,神奈川県大磯の別荘で国粋主義者の朝日平吾(1890～1921)に刺殺された(朝日もその場で自殺)。生前約束した東大安田講堂および東京市政会館の寄付は,没後になって実現をみた。茶道,書道に親しみ,「勤倹道人」と自称した。<参考文献>由井常彦編『安田財閥』,矢野文雄『安田善次郎伝』

(由井常彦)

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