Abstract
Through an analysis of the functions of banks and the activities of their founders in the Saku Basin, this study attempts to elucidate regional characteristics and their changes in the moderniza-tion period. In the Meiji-Taisho era, many small-medium size banks were established in the Saku Basin. Previous studies already revealed that many of the founders were of the landowner class. The years of establishment and dissolution of the banks are first identified. Then changes in the func-tions of the banks from the early Meiji to Taisho era are examined. Finally, the changing functions are explained through the activities of the founders.
The analysis of the years of establishment reveals two categories. The banks in the first category, which were established in the early Meiji era between 1877 and 1883, lasted only for a short period. The banks of the second category were founded in the late Meiji era, between 1896 and 1901, and con-tinued their operations until the early Showa era, around 1927. The former banks had few branch of-fices and became mediators of exchange of goods as their main business; the latter banks, which estab-lished several branch offices in the Saku Basin, emphasized loans and savings.
The banks in the first category were established by members of the landowner class who were also merchants who were involved in various trading activities in different places. The merchandise the Kurosawa family dealt with, for example, included drygoods, liquor, rice, cocoons, and raw silk. The most important business for these merchants in the late Edo through the early Meiji era was the trading of raw silk with Yokohama. The founders used their banks for exchanging money for trade with the Yokohama merchants.
The founders of the banks in the second category were landowners who lent money as their busi-ness. They also traded cocoons and ginseng, which became an important product in the late Meiji era. A related business was operating storage facilities for these products. Their economic activities thus were related to the development of sericulture production in this basin. Some bank fonders began to establish silk mills in the Taisho era.
The change in the economic activities of the bank founders can be explained by several factors. First, the deflation between 1881 and 1886 discouraged the raw silk trade, and many bankers aban-doned trade with the Yokohama raw silk merchants. Some relocated their trading headquarters out of the Saku Basin. Second, the opening of the Shin-etsu Rail Line in 1888 demoted the Saku Basin from a transit trade center to a mere transit point. Third, sericulture farmers began to borrow money for purchasing mulberry leaves and fertilizer in the late Meiji era, and many of the landowners who lent money to the farmers later established banks.
