Yataro iwasaki biography

Founder of Mitsubishi

In this Japanese name, the surname is Iwasaki.

Iwasaki Yatarō (岩崎 弥太郎, January 9, 1835 – February 7, 1885) was a Japaneseindustrialist and financier known as the founder of Mitsubishi, one of Japan's largest conglomerates.

Early life

Yatarō Iwasaki was born on 9 January 1835 in Aki, Tosa Province (now Kōchi Prefecture) into a provincial farming family. Iwasaki's family had been members of the samurai warrior nobility, but his great great grandfather, Iwasaki Yajiemon (岩崎弥次右衛門) had sold off his family's samurai status in obligation of debts during the Great Tenmei famine. His family derived from Iwasaki clan that was a branch of Takeda clan of Kai Province (甲斐武田氏). The ancestor of Iwasaki clan was Iwasaki Nobutaka (岩崎信隆) known as Takeda Shichirō (武田七郎) who was the fifth son of Takeda Nobumitsu. The Iwasaki clan served Aki clan (安芸氏), and Chōsokabe clan (長宗我部氏) at the Battle of Sekigahara (October 21, 1600).

Iwasaki began his career as an employee of the Yamauchi clan, the ruling clan of the Tosa Domain which had business interests in many parts of Japan. Iwasaki left for Edo aged nineteen for his education, but his studies were interrupted a year later when his father was seriously injured in a dispute with the village headman. Iwasaki accused the local magistrate of corruption for refusing to hear his case, and was subsequently sent to prison for seven months after he was kicked out from his village. After his release, Iwasaki was without a permanent job for a time before finding work as a tutor. Iwasaki returned to Edo, where he socialised with political activists and studied under the Yoshida Toyo, a reformist and modernization advocate from Tosa Province. Yoshida was employed by Yamauchi Toyoshige, the daimyō (lord) of the Tosa Domain, and he influenced Iwasaki with ideas of opening and developing the then-closed Japan through industry and foreign trade. Iwasaki found work as a clerk for th

Businessman. Born in Kochi, the son of a jigeronin (former lower-ranked, rural samurai without a master to serve). Founder of the Mitsubishi Zaibatsu (Mitsubishi financial group). He found a job in the Kochi Clan, and engaged in trading business at Kaiseikan Nagasaki branch. In 1869, he was transferred to Osaka Shokai of the same clan. When the haihan chiken (the abolition of clans and establishment of prefectures) was implemented, he took over the enterprises that had been run by the clan and established the Tsukumo Shokai, later renaming the company Mitsubishi Shokai, and finally, Mitsubishi Mail Steamship Co. The company was responsible for military transportation of the Taiwan Expedition and the Satsuma Rebellion. It also attempted to enter various markets such as mining, shipbuilding, finance, and trade. Mitsubishi competed fiercely with Kyodo Un-yu Kaisha, a rival steamship company, but Yataro died from illness in 1885. His younger brother Yanosuke and his eldest son Hisaya took over his business.

Yataro Iwasaki was the bold and ambitious entrepreneur who started Mitsubishi. The son of a provincial farmer, Yataro began his career in the employ of the Tosa clan. The clan held business interests in many parts of Japan, which whetted the young man's ambition.

Yataro's great grandfather had sold the family's samurai status to cover debts. Although well off, the ambitious young man knew that the only way to gain true power was education. At 19, Yataro followed an official of the Tosa clan to Edo (Tokyo) to further his studies.

The serious injury of Yataro's father in a dispute with the village headman brought him home from Edo a year later. When the local magistrate refused to hear his case, Yataro accused him of corruption. That landed him in prison for seven months.

Yataro Iwasaki studied under the reformist Toyo Yoshida. It was Yoshida who influenced him with ideas about opening up the then-closed nation and of development and industry. Through his association with Yoshida, Yataro landed a position as a clerk for the Tosa government. He saved diligently and bought back the family's samurai status.

Yoshida's assassination in 1862 caused Yataro to lose his connections. It wasn't until Yoshida's nephew gained status that he was appointed to the clan's trading office in Nagasaki. Yataro rose to the top position at the office in only three months.

His job was to buy ships, weapons, and ammunition for the Tosa clan. Yataro exported camphor oil, Japanese paper and other products to finance those purchases.

The 300-year rule of the Shogunate ended with the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Osaka replaced Nagasaki as the main trading port and Yataro followed the action there. The new government forbid the clans to run businesses. Yataro took over the newly privatized Osaka office, know then as Tsukumo Trading Company, when the Tosa clan disbanded. He accepted part of the clan's debt in return for ships and trading rights.

The company adopted the name