Yukichi Fukuzawa was one of the most effective business entrepreneurs in early modern Japan. He was the inspiration of the Yokohama Specie Bank, without which the Japanese could not have set up a sound banking system. He instigated the bookstore chain Maruzen. He was adviser to the newly founded shipbuilding and mining Mitsubishi and helped drag the old established House of Mitsui into the modern age. It is no surprise that Fukuzawa is featured on the Japanese 10000 bank note.

In Japan, as in other parts of the world, banking plays an essential role in economic development. Studying key industries such as banking provides an important tool for genuinely understanding a country. This book gives that understanding of Japan for the first time in English. It thoroughly documents Japanese banking during a crucial one-hundred years--from the opening of her borders to the world in 1859 through two world wars--from which the Japanese economy finally emerged as one of the most powerful global forces.

In Japan, as in other parts of the world, banking plays an essential role in economic development. Studying key industries such as banking provides an important tool for genuinely understanding a country. This book gives that understanding of Japan for the first time in English. It thoroughly documents Japanese banking during a crucial one-hundred years--from the opening of her borders to the world in 1859 through two world wars--from which the Japanese economy finally emerged as one of the most powerful global forces.