Giichi Wakayama - Norikazu Wakayama

An economist and bureaucrat in the early Meiji period. Born as the son of Nishikawa Soan, a physician in Edo, he later entered the Wakayama family. He became a disciple of Ogata Koan and was such a gifted man that he was temporarily allowed to use the surname Ogata. At the end of the Edo period, he worked in foreign trade-related affairs as a shogunate official, and after the Meiji Restoration, he became a professor at the Kaiseisho School, and then served in the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. In 1871 (Meiji 4), he was an attendant on Iwakura Tomomi's inspection tour of Europe and America, staying in America for three years and studying taxation and finance. After returning to Japan, he resigned from government for a period (1877-81), but returned to serve in the Dajokan (Grand Council of State) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, spending the rest of his life as a bureaucrat. During that time, he published many translations and books, and was also a pioneering economist who argued for protectionism, and made many useful suggestions regarding tax reform, land systems, and other matters. During his time in the field, he also founded Japan's first life insurance company (Nitto Insurance Company) (though the business failed after only nine months). Notable translations and books include a partial translation of Perry's Elements of Political Economy (1869, co-translated with Mitsukuri Rinsho), and translations of Byles' Sophisms of Free-Trade and Popular Political Economy Examined (1877) and The Protective Tax Theory (1871). The "Preface" in Free-Trade Examiner summarizes his economic ideas.

[Akira Tada]

"Complete Works of Giichi Wakayama, edited by Shikitaro Oyama, 2 volumes (1940, Toyo Keizai Shinposha)" ▽ "Collected Works of Eijiro Honjo, Volume 2: History of Japanese Economic Thought (1971, Seibundo Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治初期の経済学者、官僚。江戸の医家西川宗庵(そうあん)の子として生まれ、のち若山家に入る。緒方洪庵(おがたこうあん)の門に入り、一時緒方の姓を許されたほどの英才である。幕末には幕吏として外国貿易関係事務に従事、維新後は開成所教授を経て、民部省、大蔵省に出仕し、1871年（明治4）岩倉具視(ともみ)の欧米視察にあたって随員となり、アメリカに3年間滞留、税務・財政を研究した。帰国後、一時期（1877～81）官を辞したが、ふたたび太政官(だじょうかん)、農商務省などに出仕、官僚としての生涯を送った。その間多数の訳書、著書を出し、保護貿易の論陣を張った先覚的経済学者でもあり、税制改革、土地制度その他に関し、多くの有益な建議をなした。また、前述の野にあった時期に、本邦最初の生命保険会社（日東保生会社）を設立した（事業はわずか9か月で挫折(ざせつ)）。代表的訳・著書に、ペリーのElements of Political Economyの部分訳『官版経済原論』（1869、箕作麟祥(みつくりりんしょう)との共訳）、バイルズのSophisms of Free-Trade and Popular Political Economy Examinedの訳『自由交易穴探(あなさがし)』（1877）、『保護税説』（1871）などがある。なお、『自由交易穴探』の「引言」には彼の経済思想がまとめて述べられている。

［多田　顯］

『大山敷太郎編『若山儀一全集』全2巻（1940・東洋経済新報社）』▽『『本庄栄治郎著作集2　日本経済思想史』（1971・清文堂出版）』

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