Faculty Publications
Publication Date
2014
Disciplines
Asian History | Business | Business and Corporate Communications | Economic History
Abstract
Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931) has been called the “father of Japanese capitalism” and was associated with nearly five hundred business enterprises in his lifetime. From his main position as head of Dai Ichi Bank, Shibusawa was a strong advocate for business interests when the Japanese government was generally preoccupied with military concerns. He also consistently argued that business leaders should look to Confucian principle for moral guidance if they were to maintain the public's trust. Through an analysis of Shibusawa's public statements and his legacy in subsequent historical scholarship, particularly Dai Ichi Bank's 1957 official company history, we see that appeals for strong civilian initiative guided by both moral principle and economic rationality have long been an important theme in modern Japanese economic and business history.
Document Type
Published Version
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Original Citation
John Sagers
Shibusawa Eiichi, Dai Ichi Bank, and the spirit of Japanese capitalism, 1860-1930.
Shashi: The Journal of Japanese Business and Company History, 2014, volume 3, number 1, pages 3-12
doi:10.5195/shashi.2014.24
DigitalCommons@Linfield Citation
Sagers, John, "Shibusawa Eiichi, Dai Ichi Bank, and the Spirit of Japanese Capitalism, 1860-1930" (2014). Faculty Publications. Published Version. Submission 1.
https://digitalcommons.linfield.edu/histfac_pubs/1
Included in
Asian History Commons, Business and Corporate Communications Commons, Economic History Commons
Comments
This article is the publisher-created version, also considered to be the final version or the version of record. It includes value-added elements provided by the publisher, such as copy editing, layout changes, and branding consistent with the rest of the publication.