Kihachiro Okura - Okura Kihachiro

Japanese: 大倉喜八郎 - おおくら・きはちろう

Year of death: April 22, 1928
Year of birth: Tempo 8.9.24 (1837.10.23)
A Meiji and Taisho period businessman. Founder of the Okura Zaibatsu. Born in Shibata, Kitakanbara County, Echigo Province (Shibata City, Niigata Prefecture). He moved to Edo in 1854 and made a name for himself selling firearms during the tumultuous period of the Meiji Restoration. He then worked as a merchant for the new government, procuring and transporting military supplies, and engaged in civil engineering and construction work related to railways and buildings, and accumulated wealth. He focused on trade early on, and in 1873 he founded the Okura Gumi Shokai. In 1874 he set up a branch in London and began direct trade with Europe, and then expanded into trade with Korea. As a Meiji period businessman, he participated in the establishment of Tokyo Electric Light, the Imperial Hotel, and many other companies, and was appointed as an officer. From the end of the Meiji period onwards, he began investing in mainland China, which he actively pursued during the Taisho period. The core of his investments was the management of coal and iron mines through Benxi Lake Coal and Iron Co., Ltd., a joint venture with the Qing government, and the steel manufacturing business that was based on this. In 1917, Okuragumi, a limited partnership, became the holding company, and Okura Shoji, Okura Civil Engineering (Taisei Construction), and Okura Mining were the three direct-affiliated companies that formed a conglomerate. In 1898, Okura Higher Commercial School (Tokyo Keizai University) was established. <References> Kobayashi Masaaki, "The Birth of Political Businessmen," Nakamura Seishi, "The Okura Zaibatsu in the Taisho and Early Showa Periods" (Business History, Vol. 15, No. 3), Okura Zaibatsu Research Group, ed., "Research on the Okura Zaibatsu"

(Yoichi Kobayakawa)

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

Japanese:

没年：昭和3.4.22(1928)
生年：天保8.9.24(1837.10.23)
明治大正期の実業家。大倉財閥の創設者。越後国北蒲原郡新発田(新潟県新発田市)生まれ。安政1(1854)年江戸に出て,幕末維新の動乱期に銃砲の販売で名を馳せた。そののち,新政府の御用商人として軍需品の調達・輸送,鉄道・建物関係の土木建設工事などに従事し,蓄財していった。早くから貿易事業に着目し,明治6(1873)年大倉組商会を設立。7年ロンドンに支店を設置してヨーロッパとの直貿易に乗り出し,次いで朝鮮との貿易にも進出した。明治期の実業家らしく,東京電灯,帝国ホテルその他数多くの企業の設立に参画するとともに役員に就任した。明治末以降,中国大陸への投資に乗り出し,大正期にこれを積極化しているが,このうち清国政府との合弁事業である本渓湖煤鉄有限公司による炭鉱・鉄鉱山の経営とそれに立脚する製鉄事業はその中心をなした。大正6(1917)年には合名会社大倉組を持株会社とし,大倉商事,大倉土木(大成建設),大倉鉱業を直系3社とするコンツェルン機構を形成した。明治31(1898)年には大倉高等商業学校(東京経済大学)を設立している。<参考文献>小林正彬『政商の誕生』,中村青志「大正・昭和初期の大倉財閥」(『経営史学』15巻3号),大倉財閥研究会編『大倉財閥の研究』

(小早川洋一)

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

<<: Okura Zaibatsu

>>: Mr. Okura - Okurauji