三和銀行の新設における日本銀行と「家」の役割

抄録

This study examines the consensus-building process behind the bank merger that led to the establishment of the Sanwa Bank in 1933, based on primary sources held at the University of Osaka (the “Former Sanwa Bank Archives”). The analysis focuses on two key factors that shaped the merger negotiations from April to December 1932: the role of the Bank of Japan and the interests of the owning families (ie) 　 the Yamaguchi, Konoike, and Nomura families.

The key findings are as follows. First, while the official bank history states that the president of the Thirty-Fourth Bank proposed a merger with the Yamaguchi and Konoike Banks, the primary sources reveal that his initial proposal was a merger with the Sumitomo Bank. It was the Bank of Japan that identified and matched the Yamaguchi and Konoike Banks as merger partners. Second, the Yamaguchi family delayed its consent for approximately six months because it needed to strengthen its control over af filiated companies through personnel arrangements before relinquishing its bank. Third, Nomura Tokushichi, the head of the Nomura family, withdrew from the four-bank merger plan, judging that retaining the bank was essential for the growth of the Nomura business group as a whole. His ability to assert this position was facilitated by his repayment of personal debts to the Nomura Bank. The Konoike family, by contrast, consented to the merger without hesitation, as its household administration had already been separated from the bank’s management.

These findings demonstrate that the Bank of Japan played a more active role in orchestrating the merger than previously recognized, while the owning families retained final autonomy over the outcome.