Shibusawa Eiichi : a Study of a Businessman in Japan and Its Comparison to Thailand
Introduction
To understand Japanese economy in
various details, many disciplines should be explored. One intriguing aspect
here is a historical approach in the study of a businessman in Japan. Shibusawa
Eiichi had been carefully selected for many reasons. First, it is commonly said
that the present is conceived in the past and is conceiving the future.
Shibusawa lived through the transition period from Togugawa to Meiji. He
experienced the feudal system and its collapse to the beginning of the era of
Japan’s successful transformation into a modern state, the opening period of
Japan modernization. Second, it is interesting to study how a man of peasant
origin developed himself to be a preeminent businessman. Third is to understand
why the new regime of Meiji government which opposed to the old regime of Edo
persuaded him, the man who had worked for the old regime, to join the Meiji
government. Fourth, the similarity of the modernization period between Japan
and Thailand, 1867-1912(Meiji Emperor) and 1868-1910(King Chulalongkorn)
respectively provides a fine picture of the comparison. Fifth, many distinct
changes in his life, from a peasant to an officer in Edo period to a high
ranking officer and a famous businessman in Meiji era. It is remarkable that
within the last period of his life as a businessman (during the rapid
industrialization from 1886 to 1897) Shibusawa was involved in organizing and
founding over 59 enterprises. He was associated with more than 300 enterprises
during his life time1 and was the Japan’s first Chamber of commerce.
2
A Shift of Social Status
Shibusawa’s family had owned no
more than two acres of land, but his father became the richest man in the
village by dealing indigo.3 The way that farmers were able to do
business could be added to signs of changes of feudal system in Japan.4Due
to the distinct between classes was soften, farmers found their ways of doing
business such as giving loan, trading agricultural products and investing in
industries. They could act as traders between villages and cities..5
Such a small land his father owned, if it had been in Thailand, his father
would be regarded as a commoner (low class) and would not be able to find such
an opportunity in doing business. In Thailand during that period, business was
conducted by Chinese people with much
help and cooperation from the upper class. 6
The Japanese peasants rose in
rebellion 2,809 times from 1590-18677 implied that Japanese peasants
found their lives with difficulties and
suffers from the Bakufu*regime.8
Shibusawa faced this experience himself
when he contacted with bakufu officers and was treated inferior with disdain.
Since that time he vowed himself of not to be a peasant.9
Introduced by his colleague,
Shibusawa joined with the Bakufu. He was lucky that he was accepted by a bakufu
officer, who was an open-minded and modern man.10 In Thailand it is
possible that a lower class man climbed to be in the upper class if one showed
his ability in wining the fight with enemies.
Idea, Talent and Ability
Before joining with Bakufu, he spent
some time with activists against Bakufu and its policy of openness. He defended
himself why he joined the regime that he had opposed by saying that if one
wanted to accomplish great deeds in the future, he should not scruple over
minor faults. 11 Joining with bakufu was not his aim but it was a
mean for his great future.
During his period with the bakufu
regime, he highlighted his efforts in; first , diminishing the power of center
bakufu in Edo by having the domain itself recruit its own officers and second, increasing the domain’s revenues. 12
He admitted that it was a fortune
that he was selected to accompany Akitake, Shogun Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi’s younger brother, to France
where an international exposition was held.13 It is certain that
there was an increase contact with foreign countries at that time. A growing
need for knowledge about them was unavoidable. This is true to every country
including Thailand. During this period the Thai King sent many of his children
and relatives to study abroad.
In the west, with his gift in
economic sense he was struck not only by the ubiquity of joint-stock companies
but also the cordiality of relations between government officials and
commoners. He believed that if commerce and industry were developed through
joint stock companies, the merchant would gain more bargaining power to the
officers. The social status of merchants would rise and the gap between
officials and commoners would narrow.14
When he returned to Japan after the sudden
change in Japan (the collapse of Tokugawa), he decided to find a place to work
on his own in the area he had worked before.
He used the knowledge gained from abroad giving advice to officers in
the area. He introduced the organization of joint-stock companies comprising
with private and government ownership. A
trading company called Shoho Kaisho was one of Japan’s first joint stock
companies.15 He show his intelligent in dealing with company
finance. At that time government
currency steadily decreased in face value because a lack of trust in the new
government and the people’s unfamiliar with the new notes. As a hedge, he
converted the Government notes into cash and buy large quantities of fertilizer
and rice. If the price of rice and fertilizer began spiraling upward, his
company would sell off the merchandises. Moreover, he showed his tactic in
dealing with government regulation. After knowing that using government loan to
operate the company as he had did was contrary to the basic intent of the loan,
he changed the company’s name into Joheiso and carried on business as usual.16
In 1869 without knowing anybody in
the new regime, he was asked to work for the Meiji Government in Ministry of
Finance. Shibusawa was among top officers responding many urgent matters such
as drafting currency reform, drawing up bank regulations, issuing government
bonds, revising the tax system, setting up corporate form of business,
fostering new industries and reorganizing the Ministries. After a few years in the government, he came
to think that if the poor status of Japan merchants compared to government
officers remain the same how commerce and industry would develop or improve. In
addition he felt upset with the weak role of the Ministry in controlling the
government budget. Consequently, he had the feeling that people with high
education, ambition, intelligent and skill entered government service and no
one went into private business. In this
regard, he had the conclusion that if he left Ministry of Finance and started
his private business, he would be able to fill in the imbalance between public
and private sectors.17
The best explanation how Shibusawa
became an officer in the Meiji government is summarized from an interview with
Okuma, his former boss, in 190918 : “ Shibusawa has mellowed and become a
mild and reasonable man. It was tough
trying to persuade him to work for us (Meiji government), but he finally agreed
when I said that in joining us he’d be like one of the eight million Shinto gods that had come together to create
Japan. Many people protested the decision in hiring Shibusawa, an ex-bakufu
retainer. But I told them to wait and see how he would work. Shibusawa worked
hard and tackled everything – finance, local administration, industry,
commerce. His ideas were excellent and his planning through. He was so
dedicated to his job that after about six months the man who had initially
opposed his appointment came to apologize to me.” In Thailand at that time the
work in government was for highly educated upper class (related to the royal
family) level only. There was no prospect that the government would ask or
persuade the outsiders to join. Moreover, the modernization in Thailand worked
out gradually within the same regime. In the case of Japan, the modernization
started from the new regime. Because it was such a sudden change, the new
regime lacked of manpower and experienced officers. It was unavoidable that
experience officers in the old regime must be needed in order to run the
country smoothly as possible.
While Shibusawa was in Ministry of
Finance, he played an important role relating to private sector. He involved
with the establishment of the government-operated Tomioka Silk-Reeling Mill. He
held position of presidencies of the Dai-Ichi Bank (now Dai Ichi Kangyo Bank,
Ltd.) and the Oji Paper Co., Ltd., both of which he had persuaded the Mitsui
and other merchant houses to found in corporate form. In 1873 following the rejection of the proposal
to trim the budget, he, as deputy vice-minister, together with his
vice-minister resigned from the Ministry of Finance.19 Within the
same month of his resignation he fully joined the bank he had helped to found.
At that time private companies in Thailand was very weak. To secure their
business, Chinese merchants paid close connection with high ranking state
officers by giving the officers positions such as presidents, chairmen or
advisors to their companies. The relation between Thai businessmen and Thai
officers could be best described by the concept of Patron and Client.
Because of Shibusawa's experience
he could see every details of economic activities. The companies that he
managed or organized were in the advantageous positions. He successfully
organized the Osaka spinning mill and dozen of other enterprises such as
textile, insurance, shipping, rail transport, manufacturing and the like.20
Conclusion
Shibusawa contained his sense of
business since he was young helping his father deal in indigo trade. As a bakufu officer, he was able to involve
with trade and finance in his local area. His knowledge gained from abroad gave
him more prudent and advantageous than others. His work in Ministry of Finance
provided him full complete details of Japanese economy.
Modernization in Japan came up
with a sudden change from the old regime to the new regime; but in Thailand
modernization came up gradually within the same regime. There was no tendency
for the Thai government to persuade outsiders into the government; unlike Japan
where officers from the old regime were needed for the smooth transition. Japan
farmers could find their ways to develop themselves in dealing with trade,
whereas trade dealing in Thailand mostly relied on Chinese merchants. The more
peasant riots in Japan compared with Thailand implies that Thai commoners had
tendency to change less than the Japanese. During the modernization period,
concept of patron and client best describes the relation between businessmen
and state officers in Thailand; whereas the concept of close cooperation
describes the relation between businessmen and state officers in Japan.
Notes
1 Kee
Il Choi, “ Shibusawa Eiichi,” Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, 1983ed., vol.7,p.86.
2
“Shibusawa Eiichi,” Japan, An
Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993 ed., p.1361.
3
Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan, p.86.
4
Cf. Thomas C. Smith, The Agrarian
Origins of Modern Japan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959) p. 204
; in Likhit Dhiravegin, Politics and
Administrative of Thailand (Bangkok: Thammasat University Press, 1998) p.
60.
5
Cf. Furushima Tosho, “ Jinushisei Seiritsu no Rekishiteke Zentei,”
(Historical Prerequisities for Landlordism) ; in Hihon nogyo no gyo no
chidairoteki Kenkyu (Japan Agricultural and the Theory of Rent) (Tokyo :
Yokendo, 1959), pp. 3-33 ; in Mikio Sumiya and Koji Taira, eds., An Outline of Japanese Economic History
1603-1940 (Tokyo: University Press, 1979) p.98 ; in Likhit Dhiravegin, Politics and Administrative of Thailand (Bangkok: Thammasat University
Press, 1998) p. 60.
6
Likhit Dhiravegin, Politics and
Administrative of Thailand (Bangkok: Thammasat University Press, 1998) pp.
62-63 (Thai).
7 Mikiso Hane, Japan: A Historical Survey ( New York : Charles Scriber’s Sons,
1972) pp. 168-173 and 231-232; in Likhit Dhiravegin, Politics and Administrative of Thailand (Bangkok: Thammasat
University Press, 1998) pp. 64-65.
8
Likhit Dhiravegin, Politics and
Administrative of Thailand (Bangkok: Thammasat University Press, 1998) pp.
64-65.
9
Shibusawa Eiichi, The
Autobiography of Shibusawa Eiichi, trans. Teruko Craig (Tokyo : University
of Tokyo Press, 1994) p.14.
10
Ibid., p.34.
11
Ibid., p.42.
12
Ibid., pp. 75-77.
13
Ibid., pp. 94-96.
14 Shibusawa Eiichi, Rikkai
Ryakusoku (Guidelines on Forming Companies), Shibusawa Eiichi Denki Shirgo
(SEDs, Shibusawa Eiichi Biographical Material)(Ryumon Zasshi, 1871) vol.I ,
pp.604-5; in Shibusawa Eiichi, The
Autobiography of Shibusawa Eiichi, pp. 183-4, footnote 43.
15
Kodensha Encyclopedia of Japan,
p.86.
16
Shibusawa Eiichi, The
Autobiography of Shibusawa Eiichi, p. 123.
17
Ibid., pp. 139-140.
18
SEDs, vol. II, p. 245, Jitsugyo no Nihon; in Shibusawa Eiichi, The Autobiography of Shibusawa Eiichi,
p. 184, footnote 44.
19
Shibusawa Eiichi, The
Autobiography of Shibusawa Eiichi, p. 148.
20
“Shibusawa Eiichi,” Japan, An
Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993 ed., p.1361 and Itasaka Gen, 100 Japanese You Should Know (Tokyo:
Kodansha International Ltd., 1998) p.161.
* Bakufu refers
to a regime that combined a military government structure with support from
feudal lords around Japan.
* Amakudari
means heaven to earth, expressing state officers who turn themselves to join
private business
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