The financial activities of moneychangers in Kyoto, Osaka, and Yedo during the late Tokugawa and early Meiji periods (the 1860s and 1870s)(<SPECIAL ISSUE>72th annual conference)

Abstract

After discussing the importance of investment by merchants during the industrialization of Japan, this article analyzes historical materials relating to the firms of Banjin (Kyoto), Mitsui (Osaka, Yedo), Chogin (Kyoto, Yedo), and Hiromi (Kaizuka). It proves that the activities of moneychangers in Kyoto, Osaka, and Yedo continued in spite of the economic disorders of the early Meiji period. In Osaka, bills issued by merchants on moneychangers stopped circulating after the regime change of 1868. This was because plundering by the victorious armies of the domains of Satsuma and Choshu caused the bankruptcy of the many moneychangers who had been closely linked with the Tokugawa Bakufu or Aizu domain. In Kyoto, the circulation of bills stopped from 1873 owing to the introduction of stamp duties. Moneychangers who survived such disorders in the money market began to finance the new merchants who invested their accumulated resources in modern industries. After the 1870s, modern banks were established by big moneychangers. These included Konoike, Sumitomo, Hirase, Yamaguchi, and Hirooka in Osaka, and Mitsui, Nakai, Yasuda, and Kawasaki in Tokyo.